Metroid Prime Hunters: The Eclipse Begins
by LordSpire
Summary: Takes Place after the Events of MPH. The Hunters head for a ruined system, intent on finding three gems of massive power. Little do they realize that a new enemy awaits them; an enemy that could prove to be the death of them all
1. Prolouge

A/N: Greetings, my readers! I am LordSpire, and here, we have my first fanfiction. This is a Metroid Prime Hunters Fanfic, (Though you might have figured that out by the title,) and hopefully, it will be a successful one.

I was inspired by tracefan's Metroid Prime Hunters series, and that is actually what led me to make my own fanfiction account, in hopes that I could make one that's as good as it is.

In any case, this takes place roughly a year and a half after the events of Prime Hunters. And with that, we're-

Oops, I almost forgot to put this in…

Disclaimer: I don't own Metroid or any characters associated with Metroid (Unless I made a character up); it is a property of Nintendo. Nor do I own Nintendo, for that matter. I also don't own the term "going to lightspeed" which I use to explain how all of the Metroid characters get around the galaxies, it is a trademark of Lucasfilm (At least I think so. I know a lot of other sci-fi types of stories use this term, but for some reason, I think it was Lucasfilm who created it. Correct me if I'm wrong) I know that I'm probably overdoing the disclaimer thing, but I'm just covering my bases here. I think I've managed to straighten out everything, but should I suddenly realize I've forgotten something I will put it in.

One Last Thing: The personalities of the Hunters might be _slightly_ off here, but we weren't given much ground on their personalities, so bear with me. And this is rated T for violence and some swearing

And with that… we begin

**Prologue**

_Many months ago, seven hunters received a strange message which consisted of these simple words: "The secret to Ultimate Power lies within the Alimbic Cluster." Seven hunters, including the legendary Samus Aran, went after this mysterious power; some for their own gain, others to keep it from evil. After much battling for the power, they realized it was a trick to release the monstrosity known as Gorea. Samus was able to eventually destroy the creature, along with obtaining the actual Ultimate Power: The Omega Cannon. The seven hunters escaped the cluster after Gorea's demise, and six of them knew that Samus had obtained the Ultimate Power._

_Though the hunters went their separate ways, little did they realize that now, a year and a half after all of this happened, events will ensue that will bring them face-to-face with each other again…_

A lone figure stood in a cavern.

This being knew that the time had come at last for his plan to be set in motion. It was long, it was complicated, and there were more than thirty ways it could fail, but, on the chance that it did succeed, he would bring the Galactic Federation; perhaps all the systems and galaxies to their knees. If it succeeded, not only would he rule all of those, but he would have the power to destroy all that stood in his way.

This being was clad in black armor that had a striking resemblance to the Power Suit of Samus Aran, though it was considerably less bulky. The helmet had a red visor, crimson-colored energy could be seen flowing across the armor, and the whole armor seemed to have a multicolored aura about it, small, but seeable.

A much simpler way to describe it would be this: it seemed as if someone had taken what a total eclipse of the sun looked like, and then converted it into the appearance of the armor, and added the crimson flowing energy.

Simple, is it not?

The being turned to a control panel. With this, he could do everything he needed to do to set his plot in motion, and more than that. If he needed to send a wide range transmission to the ships belonging to seven Bounty Hunters, for example, it could be done.

And _that_ is what he wanted to do.

The being sat in the chair in front of the massive control panel, and requested to the computer to send a message. Hopefully, the hunters that he was sending it to would come to this system, and into his grasp.

He began to type:

_Gems three, each rare, each great._

_These gems were what brought our rise and fall,_

_We hid them in our system, and hoped that there they would stay,_

_For only a fool would want them all._

_Gems three, Gem of Life:_

_Immortality is in grasp_

_Gems Three, Gem of Power:_

_Enhancing strengths and senses to mass_

_Gems Three, the Nova Gem:_

_A weapon of terrible power._

_We were fools to think we could master it,_

_And it brought our final hour._

_Come to the Espilce System,_

_It is here that the gems will be._

_But wisdom is required, experience must be had,_

_If you want these Gems Three._

Satisfied, the being pushed the "Send" key, and knew that now, it would only be a matter of time

It had begun.

* * *

A/N: Not much exciting happened in this chapter, but there is a _lot_ of foreshadowing. In the next chapter, hopefully things will get interesting

R&R

And we shall meet again!


	2. Incoming Hunters

A/N: I'm back with another update (And a fast one at that!) I won't usually update this quickly, unless I have _way too much_ time on my hands.

Also, I'm going to respond to one of my reviews here, to clarify something. I might do more of these if I get more reviews

**guiltyslayer: No, it isn't a typo. Just a little naming on my part. Try and figure out just how I changed it**

In this chapter, we'll see a few of the Hunters coming in. (Hence the chapter name).

Oh, and with the exception of Sylux (And I guess Samus), we don't know the names of any of the Hunter's ships, so I took the liberty of naming them.

Disclaimer: All that I have stated before remains true now.

**Chapter 1**

As the bounty hunter Sylux took his ship, the _Delano 7,_ out of lightspeed into the Espilce system, he reflected upon what he had learned about the system.

There wasn't much to learn.

For starters, the system was once a thriving civilization. The nameless being that had lived there had made all sorts of anonymous contributions of technology, not unlike the mysterious Chozo, though data had proved the beings that lived there were different. In addition, the main planet of this system, which never really had a name other than "The Main Planet", had several different types of terrain, as well as goods that could be mined.

_All in all_, Sylux had thought at the time, _a half-decent combination of natural and artificial work_.

However, that had all changed several years ago. Whether it was some natural phenomenon, or some sort of freak accident, disaster had befallen the system. The disaster had come when a shadow had seemed to form over the sun itself, so the system had been plunged into total darkness, and while many had thought this would cause all the planets to freeze over, the fate that had ensued was much worse.

Unnatural energies had been formed by this, so that planets would still go on, but many things would become warped and twisted by the now-unstable energy emanating form the sun. Many life-forms on the Main Planet were either killed or turned into "shadow creatures" that had been come to called "Wraiths", due to the fact that they were, well, composed of shadow.

The system had, in short, fallen to ruin.

What Sylux didn't find out, however, was who these beings were, and how they had come across these three gems while this was going on, and how they connected to the strange phenomenon with the sun.

Before he left the system, Sylux intended to find this out.

The hunter was about halfway to the Main Planet when an alert flashed on his computer. "This Better be important." He muttered, "I don't want this to end up a repeat of the last 'Alert' that came up."

_Three ships have entered radar proximity_ the computer screen showed. _They seemed to have just come out of lightspeed._

"Identification." Said Sylux, already knowing they would belong to his rival Hunters

_First ship is an Advanced _Hunter-A_-class Kriken fighter with modified weapons technology. It is known as the _Stealth Snipe.

"That would be Trace."

_The second is an _Alpha-_class Space Pirate Interceptor that has been heavily modified. Known as the _Crossfire.

"Weavel" Sylux said, already guessing who… well, _what_ the next one would be.

_And the last one is a modified _Bulk-Assault _Fighter that appears to have undergone incredible weapons modifications. Its name is the _Ruthless.

"Everyone's favorite experiment-gone-insane, Kanden." Sylux said. He considered attacking Weavel and Kanden, but he knew that Trace would take advantage of the distraction and get a head start on seeking the gems. "Probably best that I leave them alone for the time being" Sylux muttered to himself. He was about to find an area where the _Delano 7_ could land, when he saw something on the computer screen that infuriated him:

_Ship detected on the planet._

"Damn." Sylux muttered. So a hunter had managed to get ahead of him. No matter. All he had to do was figure out who it was and… "Computer, identify ship."

_Unknown classification._

"What?!" he said in surprise. "But… how… Well, just give me a visual then!"

_Out of range._

"Then how are you able to detect it?" Sylux asked, half on the verge of tearing his ship computer apart. That thought died, however, when he saw what had come up on the screen.

_Ship is emanating a high energy signature. Unknown energy type, but detecting trace amounts of Quantum-X class energy_.

If Sylux wasn't confused before, he certainly was now.

"That's impossible." He said, "You can't just toy with Quantum-X energy. It takes incredible handling by highly skilled scientists." For a moment, he wondered if he should find the ship and figure out what it was.

But then again… "Too risky." He finally said. "Always the chance that this will just lead me off course and give the others time to get ahead of me." He nodded to himself. "Besides, it could be nothing in any case. Nothing at all."

And with that, he took the _Delano 7_ down to the planet. Hopefully, he could get a head start on the others.

* * *

Two of those "others" were even now watching the _Delano 7_ fly down to the surface of the Main Planet, with the _Stealth Snipe_ coming close by.

Sitting in the cockpit of the _Crossfire_, Weavel's planning the landing sequence was interrupted by an incoming transmission from the _Ruthless_. With a sigh, Weavel acknowledged the transmission, and the face of Kanden appeared on the screen.

"So, remind me what our plan is again?" Asked Kanden.

"I've already told you." said an annoyed Weavel. "We fly down to the planet, get these gems, and kill anyone who gets in our way. Sound like a plan to you."

The experiment soldier nodded. "A good old kill-and-grab." he said, "My favorite type of job."

"That would be because it's the only one you do." said Weavel. "Now come on. Trace and Sylux are heading toward the planet, and I estimate the others will be here soon. So let's move!" And before Kanden could respond, Weavel cut off the transmission, and began the landing sequence.

Shrugging, Kanden flew after Weavel, already thrilled at the thought of another hunt.

And by the time two more ships had entered the system, all four of the other ships had landed.

* * *

A/N: Wow. Now _that_ was a long chapter. Not as much action as I had hoped, but things will hopefully get interesting within the next chapter or so.

R&R

And we will meet again


	3. Let's Get Started

A/N: Wow. _Three_ consecutive updates for me? I'm on a roll here!

Seriously though, I didn't expect myself to update this quickly. Maybe I'm just lucky here.

Also…

**guiltyslayer: I understand and I will do what I can to make them a little more colorful. The last chapter was an info chapter, for the most part, so I didn't really think to put in personalities for them. Hopefully that will change. I **_**have**_** begun to think of personalities for Weavel and Kanden, however, and Trace's isn't far behind.**

At any rate, here we are. Now things will get somewhere.

Disclaimer: All that I have said before remains true

* * *

**Chapter 2**

Trace took the _Stealth Snipe_ onto the surface of the Main Planet, already knowing where to land. A quick radar scan had revealed that a small shrine was nearby, across the plane of stones where he had landed the ship, so Trace figured it was a good place as ever to start.

As he exited the _Stealth Snipe_, he was pleased to see that Sylux was nowhere nearby. _Idiot must have not thought to scan the surface for any unusual areas. No matter. I'll just kill him after I've found out where the gems are._

Much to Trace's confusion, something seemed to be appearing on his radar. What confused him was that thought it seemed to show up as a non-living object, it was moving in a path that no loose stone would take. "Must be some malfunction." he decided, "Those idiot mechanics can't fix anything these days." Deciding not to worry about it, he set off toward the shrine.

The Kriken was soon at the shrine. It was bigger than he'd expected, but smaller than he'd hoped for. It consisted of an opened dome which had a pedestal in the center. The pedestal was wide, and what rested upon it was…

"Are you kidding?!"

…a large pile of tablets

Trace was furious. "Of all the things they had too put in that stupid shrine, it had to be some _stupid tablets_?! Maybe the beings that lived here will learn to put some worthwhile things here!" Trace said, already taking aim with his Imperialist.

"Sorry Trace, can't let you destroy those."

Trace whirled around to see Sylux standing there, Shock Coil pointed at him.

After Trace managed to overcome his surprise, he said, "How in the blazes did you sneak through my radar? It should've easily been able to detect you."

Sylux laughed, a sickening sound. "Trace, Trace, Trace. You should've checked the energy signatures emanating from the sun of this place. They foul up radars so bad, one can't tell the difference between a living and nonliving thing."

Trace refused to acknowledge this bit of information, and instead smirked. "We're at a standoff, Sylux. In the time it takes for you to kill me with that Shock Coil, I could put at least one Imperialist through you. Kriken technology is far superior to some prototype Federation weapon. You can't win."

Sylux cocked his head to one side, as if listening to something only he could hear. Then he smiled. "I don't think I need to. It's out of my hands at this point."

It was at that moment that Trace felt very cold. Literally.

As he looked up, he saw, much to his surprise, a U-shaped ship with a horizontal line down the middle cut through the skies, coming in all guns blazing; firing forth chunks of ice energy. He recognized that ship mere moments before a block of ice seemed to form around him.

Trace and Sylux both knew who was piloting that vessel, and that was not good news.

Noxus had arrived.

* * *

As Noxus began to land his ship, the _Scythe of Justice_, he was pleased to see that the testing of his ship-based Judicators had worked. Trace had nearly taken a direct hit and was now encased in a block of ice that would soon shatter, and Sylux was having trouble shattering the ice that was holding his feet in place.

Noxus would have to kill both of them, if only because they were both criminals. Trace was a Kriken, one of the most vile races in existence, and Sylux…was Sylux.

_Any criminal, no matter who they are, must be killed. Such is the way of the Vhozon._

Noxus quickly ran to the shrine, and read the largest tablet there. What he saw interested him as much as it displeased him.

_Whether a wanderer or hunter you may be,_

_you must be seeking the gems three._

_These clues are many; and lead to different places,_

_and each of these clues have different faces._

_Sensitive to touch, these clues are,_

_the glow will lead you near and far._

_One is three, four is two,_

_the order may not matter to you,_

_but be warned, for when you seek the final clue,_

_you must find its brothers too._

_For if you don't, be prepared_

_you are in for much despair._

_Unite the clues, find the gem,_

_Maybe you can get all of them!_

Noxus finished reading the clue just as Sylux shattered the ice that held his feet down. And by the time Sylux had reached the shrine, the Vhozon had left. As Sylux read the large tablet, he understood what had to be done for the gems to be found. He turned to the pile of smaller tablets, only to see that one was glowing. Sylux guessed that that was where Noxus was going, but he had no intention to follow the Vhozon. Instead, he looked at the clues thoroughly, and had soon picked up a tablet, and read it too himself:

_The clue lies in the abyss of cut stones…_

"The old quarry." Sylux said, recalling the hole he'd passed over when he was landing. he began to run for the quarry, but he stopped when he passed Trace, still trapped in the now-melting ice block.

"I'd free you, Kriken, but I'm going to let nature do that. You have too much overconfidence for your own good."

And with that, he ran off, wondering what had become of Weavel and Kanden…

* * *

Weavel and Kanden were, in fact flying toward the shrine, and arguing as always.

"Why'd you have to go and destroy those rock formations? You could've cut off some important area for the hunt."

"They were getting in my way. You can't expect me to fly my ship through them."

"YOU COULD'VE JUST FLOWN YOUR SHIP AROUND THEM!"

Kanden paused, and said, "Great idea. Why didn't I do that?"

Weavel decided to drop the subject, saying, "Look, you overgrown mud-spawn, we don't have time to blow up everything in sight. I saw Noxus heading toward—"

"Will we be able to blow up everything in sight eventually?"

The cybernetic Space Pirate couldn't answer that one. "Noxus was taking his ship to some shrine a ways west. That could be our starting point."

"Starting point? We just flew over it."

"What are you talking about? We didn't—" Weavel's comment was cut off when he saw that, to his surprise, they had flown over the shrine. "Ah, crap." He muttered. Then something caught his attention. "Hey, is that— is that Trace over there?"

Kanden didn't respond, but Weavel could easily guess that it was the Kriken hunter. He landed the _Crossfire_ nearby the shrine, and the _Ruthless_ touched down soon afterward. Both Weavel and Kanden walked over to the frozen Kriken.

"Well, it looks like our justice-obsessed friend caught up to him. He's frozen solid."

"Not for long." Said Kanden, and before Weavel could stop him, he fired a Volt Driver into the ice, shattering it. A second Volt Driver knocked Trace unconscious before he could shoot either of them.

Weavel stared down at Trace, and could only think of one thing to say:

"Was that _really_ necessary, Kanden?"

"No, but it sure was fun." Kanden said. When Weavel looked blankly at him he simply said, "What? I haven't been able to shoot something living in a while."

Weavel wasn't even listening, rather, he was walking up to the shrine. Several moments later, he said, "Okay, I've found out where we're going, and we're staying on that route."

"Where?"

Weavel looked at the experimented soldier, and grinned slightly. "To the abandoned Quarry."

* * *

A/N: Wow, an even longer update. Will they simply get longer and longer?

Sylux is a tactician, Noxus has yet to even speak, Trace is cocky, Kanden's not the brightest, and Weavel keeps trying to keep him in check. What can I say?

Well, now the fun can begin

R&R

And we shall soon meet again


	4. An Interesting Conversation

A/N: Well, I've come with another update, but I am none too pleased that nobody has reviewed chapter three. I'd like some takes on it, you know.

Also, I actually took a break here. Shocking, is it not?

In this chapter, we'll see… well, keep reading if you want to find out what we'll see!

* * *

Disclaimer: All that I have said before remains true

Samus' _Gunship_ came down to the surface of the Main Planet. She had been late in coming to the system, due to another job she'd been given by the Federation. She could see, however, that things had gotten nasty before she had come, due to an unconscious Trace and clear signs of places of the ground scarred by intense cold.

_Noxus…_ she thought to herself. If the Vhozon wasn't bringing down criminals, he was interfering with the other hunters. She knew that Noxus didn't see her as a criminal, but one slip and that could change.

Trace came to just as Samus neared the shrine, and no sooner did he see the hunter did he point his Imperialist at her. "All right, Aran, just step away from the shrine, and I won't have to shoot you."

"What are you, a police officer?" Samus said, "And you don't look like you're in a good position to be making demands."

"Well that justice obsessed friend of yours came round and froze me. Then that overgrown mud worm unfroze me, only to knock me out. You seem to be slow in catching up on the times."

No sooner were the words out of his mouth did he realize that he had said the wrong thing. "First off, Noxus isn't my friend." Samus said, her calm now having a hint of anger. "You would know that, due to the USROBH."

Trace winced to himself. The USROBH, or the Unspoken Rules Of Bounty Hunters were just that: unspoken rules that the hunters knew to follow. Many hunters used those as guidelines, including Trace, but accusing someone of disobeying the USROBH was pretty serious, as Trace had just did.

"Well, look, Aran, I didn't mean it that way." Trace said, stumbling over his words. "Perhaps if I had said—"

"That's enough Trace." Samus cut him off, "You and I both know that this would be wasting time, while the other hunters got their claws on the gems."

The Kriken had to admit she was right. Even now, they could be finding more places where the gems could be.

"You said Kanden had unfrozen you. If Kanden is here that means Weavel isn't far behind." Samus said, almost to herself. "If they find a gem, and if that gem happens to be the Nova Gem…" Samus decided not to think about that.

Unlike the other hunters, she didn't want the gems to further her own ends, or protect the galaxies from any criminal. She wanted the gems so she could give them to the Federation, and let them deal with the artifacts. She'd used the same method with the Alimbic's Ultimate Power, and now the cannon was destroyed as far as she cared.

"They won't find the gem immediately, Aran." Trace cut into her thoughts. "They have to go on some tablet chase before they could find the gems. It says so over there." He gestured to the shrine. "But I need to return to the _Stealth Snipe_, because I'm not winning any races in the condition I'm in." Trace then switched to Triskelion, and skittered away.

Samus walked up to the shrine, read the large tablet, then picked up one of the smaller tablets, and read it once before she knew where to go:

_The lone flat mountain and straight sides will lead you to the next clue…_

Samus had seen a single mesa, as well as several mesas nearby each other when she was flying over the surface. She guessed that it was the single mesa where she needed to go. Noting that location inside her head, she ran off to the west, where the faint outline of a mesa could be seen.

It was several minutes after she'd left when colors seemed to shift, revealing a Triskelion, who quickly returned to Trace.

"If that human thinks I'd run from a fight, she's dumber than I thought!" Trace said. Reading the clue which Samus had activated, he switched back to Triskelion and skittered toward the west as well.

* * *

A/N: No, this chapter wasn't as good as the others. I understand. Think of it as a brief interlude between the action.

Besides, I needed Trace in the thick of it, and I needed Samus to appear, so now, I'm killing two birds with one stone. Interesting, right?

Yes, the USROBH is dumb. I know that.

Anyways, R&R

And we shall soon meet again.


	5. Houston, We Have an Alliance

A/N: I apologize for my slow updating these days, but I've been a little bogged down by homework and whatnot. Hopefully, I will be able to get in at least one more chapter before the week is over.

I am none too pleased, however, that I'm not getting any reviews lately. A little acknowledgement of my work, please? Heck, I'd appreciate some constructive criticism right about now. I will, however, answer my most recent review

**guiltyslayer: I honestly have no idea what mechquest is. If I had, I might have checked it over to see how my story relates to it**

Well, let's keep going, shall we?

Disclaimer: All that I have said before remains true now.

Weavel and Kanden continued their trek to the quarry, across the plains. Though they had not encountered Sylux, Weavel knew it was only a matter of time before the blue-and-green armored hunter showed up and Shock Coiled them until who knew when. Weavel had been on the wrong end of the Shock Coil a few too many times for his own liking. He didn't want to have that happen again any time soon.

Kanden, meanwhile, was having no such worries. In fact, he was enjoying himself at the moment. Every now and again, when the two passed a rock, or some other natural object, Kanden would fire his Volt Driver into it, and watch with glee as the object crumbled. Weavel was getting tired of this, but for the time being, he could tolerate it.

However, when Kanden destroyed a huge boulder that sent echoes across the plain and Weavel could swear would wake beings on other planets, his patience snapped. He rounded on Kanden and fired several Battlehammer shots that arced over the Enomea's head and burst close by him.

"Hey, what gives?" Kanden snapped. "You're interrupting my shooting spree."

Weavel moved toward Kanden until his face was an inch apart from the others'. "That shot probably alerted any bounty hunter on the planet of where you are. And if it didn't, the trail of destruction that you're making will be a perfect way to track us down!"

"And who would do that?"

Weavel was about half a second away from unloading his Battlehammer into Kanden "Who do you think! Noxus, Trace, heck _Samus_ might want to track us down! I don't know. Any of the hunters might want us out of the way, and the only reason Sylux isn't after us is because _we're_ tracking _him. _But that could change any min—" Weavel stopped as an idea struck him.

"What about—" Kanden began, but Weavel cut him off.

"If we set a trap for Sylux, we could have him out of the way, and there'd be one less hunter to worry about; and one less annoyance for the others. We'd be doing both ourselves and all the others a favor, especially since Sylux is most likely the most hated of the group."

"Weavel," Kanden said, a hint of seriousness in his voice for once, "you're forgetting about—"

"Quiet." Weavel snapped. "I need to think of a good trap to knock Sylux out of the picture."

And Weavel soon did think of a good trap, and Kanden reluctantly agreed that it might work. Shortly afterward, the two reached the quarry, and Weavel put his plan in action.

* * *

Sylux walked across the bottom of the quarry, Shock Coil at the ready. However desolate the place may have been, he knew that the beings that once lived here would not leave their treasure unguarded. He had no idea what obstacles he would be facing, but he knew that these obstacles could, with a quick strategic plan, be brought down.

One of these "obstacles" dropped down from out of nowhere. firing beams of electricity as he did so. Sylux jumped away, already knowing his attacker. "Kanden." he said, "This is certainly interesting to see you alone. Where's Half-Bot? He's always there with you. Where did he end up?"

"What are you, his mother?" Kanden retorted, sending off several rounds of Volt Drivers in the process. Sylux was able to dodge them, but he found himself with a problem. The Volt Driver had a longer range than his Shock Coil, which meant that any attempt on his part to use the weapon would result in him being pounded to pieces by the Volt Driver. Furthermore, Kanden was stupid, never following any logical or tactical path; he simply destroyed without measure. If this battle went on for too long, the quarry would be in worse shape than it already was, which was saying something.

While Sylux was analyzing his predicament, Kanden fired more and more Volt Drivers, and eventually, one got through. Sylux, his vision distorted by the hit, blindly fired a missile (He'd stolen a launcher form the Federation about a month ago). A grunt of pain told him that he'd hit the target, and he followed up with more missiles, eventually knocking down Kanden with a few more lucky shots.

"Now why didn't I just use the launcher to begin with?" Sylux asked himself as he strode over to where Kanden was, the mutant having a difficulty getting up after the pounding he'd taken. "Any last words, mutant?" Sylux said, pointing his Shock Coil at Kanden.

"Yeah…" Kanden said, struggling to form each word, "Behind…. you."

"Like I'm going to fall for that old trick," Sylux laughed, "You must be dumber than I—" His taunt was cut off as he felt something press against his back. "Oh, I'm afraid that my friend here is telling the truth." an all too familiar voice whispered.

Sylux had no need to turn around, only one hunter would be nearby Kanden. "Weavel." He snarled, "I should have smelled your rank stench in this plan. That swamp spawn couldn't plan his way out of a paper bag."

"We had you fooled enough though." Weavel said, "it's over Sylux. The Question is now just should I kill you here or wait until I have the gems?"

"Neither." Sylux said, changing to Lockjaw as he did so. Weavel and Kanden both took action, (Though not necessarily at the same time) Weavel went Halfturret and began to track down Sylux, while Kanden began to fire his Volt Driver in places where he figured Sylux would be.

Sylux, floating in Lockjaw form, had found a good place to lay a mine, and was looking for somewhere where he could lay a second, and somehow bring Kanden down in the process. Unfortunately, he'd miscalculated with laying the first mine, not factoring in where Kanden was, he had laid a mine too far from Kanden, where it was useless if he laid a second mine.

Weavel had figured this out too, though Kanden had yet to realize it. Weavel decided to take advantage of this, and returned to biped, quickly found a good spot to take down Sylux, and went Halfturret again.

Sylux decided that his mine laying plan would need to start from scratch, and he quickly detonated the mine he had first laid, and then moved in closer to Kanden, where he began to lay the mines. He succeeded with the first two, but when he got in position to lay the third and forming the triangle, Weavel's Halfturret activated, and began a barrage of Battlehammer shots. The shots kept hitting, delivering excruciating pain with each strike, and Sylux quickly returned to biped, moved out of the range of the turret…

And backed right into Kanden, who had his Volt Driver fully charged and pointing straight at him. "Nice try, Sylux, but you're… you're…"

"Finished." Said Weavel, returned to biped. "Really, Sylux, did you think that your little mine-trick would work on us? You're slipping. No wonder Samus always has an easy time shooting you down."

"You couldn't be talking," Sylux snarled, "She took you and the idiot over here down as well." A thought then struck him. Weavel and Kanden were both formidable enemies, but if he could swing them to his side…

"She takes us down, every time." He continued, "But the only reason she always defeats her enemies is that they are always determined to face her alone. I get the feeling that she would have fallen to Ghor, Rundas, and Gandrayda had they teamed up and faced her all at once."

"What are you suggesting?" Kanden asked, but Weavel had figured it out already.

"You want us to team up, don't you?" He said. "Three gems, three of us, and three dead hunters?"

"You're still forgetting about—" Kanden said, but Sylux cut him off.

"Correct, Half-Bot." Sylux said. "If we join together, then the hunters won't stand a chance. We'll mow them down and get the gems easily."

Weavel nodded. "It makes sense." He said, "But who will get what gem?"

"We'll figure that out later." Sylux said. "So are we agreed?"

"We are." said Weavel.

Kanden nodded, then said something completely random: "Houston, we have an alliance."

Everyone stopped moving, and looked at Kanden. Weavel could have sworn he heard a sound akin to that of a record scratch. "Um… what?"

Kanden shrugged. "I said it once, I'm not saying it again."

Sylux reacted to that by shooting Kanden with a low-powered missile, which knocked the mutant into a wall.

"Oookay then." Weavel said, "Sylux, what does the clue say?

Sylux glanced at the tablet, which was nearby. "It says, 'The clue lies within the ruined home for ships and supplies'"

Weavel paused, trying to remember an area matching that description. Then suddenly it hit him like a blast from Samus' Plasma Beam. "Kanden, do you remember passing over a hangar while we were flying in."

Kanden nodded. "I wanted to shoot it, but after you blew up at me for shooting those rock formations, I decided not to."

"And it's a good thing that you didn't," Weavel said, running for the quarry "Stairs" that would lead them out of the pit, "Because the next clue is in there."

A/N: yay, a long chapter again. It's certainly been a while.

"Houston, we have an alliance."

Yeah, I'm not very nice to Kanden.

The next chapter will focus more on Trace, Samus, and Noxus.

R&R

And we shall meet again.


	6. Get a Clue, or Get Two

A/N: I am sorry for my slow updating, but laziness has gotten the better of me (That, and playing Mario Kart Wii, trying to unlock that #! Dry Bowser) At any rate, here's another chapter, so enjoy it.

Oh, and about that review…

**guiltyslayer: I'm paranoid about that, what can I say? Besides, I may need to make other disclaimers in the near future, about other things in my story. Oh, and you still haven't explained to me what Mechquest is. Typing / doesn't tell me much**

And without further ado, here is my next chapter

Disclaimer: All that I have said before still remains true.

* * *

Noxus quietly stepped into the oasis.

He didn't know why these beings had chosen to hide a clue in an _oasis_, of all places, where any traveler would want to end up while wandering the desert. He figured that a wanderer could easily find the clue if they were in the desert, and might remove or destroy it while in the oasis.

_Then again,_ he thought,_ these beings might have waited until the planet was desolate, so that they'd be guaranteed nobody would stumble upon it._

According to the tablet, Noxus had to look in _The pond and trees amongst the sands_, for the next clue. And seeing how the oasis was small, the clue shouldn't be too hard to find.

Noxus quickly searched the trees, the bushes, and most of the shrubbery for the clue. Nothing. He even tore up some of the softer ground patches to find it, but still came up short. _If it isn't underground, not in any of the plants, where could—_

Then it hit Noxus, an idea so outlandish, he was sure that it was wrong. Still, given how his other searches had ended in failure, he had no choice. He walked to the edge of the pond, and looked down. Sure enough, a faint glow could be seen at the bottom, a glow which could only belong to a clue.

Noxus reached down into the pond, hoping to feel the hard stone tablet. But he didn't grab it. It didn't seem that he was close. He continued to reach down, down as far as he could without having to actually go in the water, but he couldn't reach it still.

_Okay, time for Plan B_. Taking aim with his Judicator, he blasted the pond with a near-fully charged shot. The water froze instantly. Noxus punched the ice, hoping that the shot would have frozen enough so that he could create a "path" that would allow him near the clue. He was disappointed, however, to find that he hadn't hit hard enough for most of the pond to freeze and allow him to get the clue, at least without going in the water.

_It can't penetrate deep enough_ _for it to freeze properly_._ Maybe if I fire at a high enough setting…_ Noxus charged his Judicator a little longer, then fired just before it reached full setting; if at full setting, it might shatter the tablet. The beam struck the water, freezing it once more. Noxus repeated the method he had done before, and found, much to his frustration, that it became normal water at the exact same point where it had become normal water again.

_If the water freezes at the same point all the time…_ Noxus aimed at the water, and fired the judicator at low power. The water froze over once again, and as Noxus punched through the ice again, he found that his theory was correct: The ice ended at the exact same point. It would appear that the ice couldn't go any lower than that, which meant that Noxus would have to…

Vhozons hate going in water. They hate it. Vhozons believe that water should be either frozen, or as close to frozen as possible and still be liquid enough to drink. Noxus doubted that the water was up to Vhozon standards, but he really didn't have much of a choice. _Someday, however, I'm going to have a nice, long, talk with whoever was the genius that decided to hide these clues in these places._ Noxus took a deep breath, readied himself, and dove in the water.

Though the water was at a comfortable swimming temperature for most species, to a Vhozon it felt on the verge of boiling. Noxus swam down as fast as he could, seized the tablet, and quickly reached the surface of the pond.

As he clambered back onto the shore, he realized two things: One, that was deeper than the average pond should be, perhaps a trick laid by the beings that hid the clues, and two, he remembered that if a clue was glowing, which the tablet was doing right now, that meant someone had arrived beforehand, read the clue, and placed it back in (Or just in) the water. Noxus had no idea which hunter had done this, because several hunters had arrived before him. When Noxus read the clue, however, he knew at once who it was that had dropped the clue in the water, no doubt to slow him down. But more importantly, the text itself on the clue caused a shudder to go down his spine:

_A planet's blood, A planet's flame; the clue lies under these mountains three_

Noxus knew where this meant, but he didn't like it, no, he didn't like it at all.

* * *

Trace, meanwhile, was in a good mood.

The Kriken had followed Samus from a safe distance, just out of range of her radar (Not that it mattered with the radar, but Trace figured that it didn't matter with Samus; she could still know it was him if he got in range) He had considered sniping down Samus, and he even had his finger on the firing button when he realized that he had forgotten to read the clue, so following Samus was his only chance to "Stay in the running". And thus, he remained in Triskelion form while Samus made her way toward the mesa where the clue was located.

When Samus finally reached the mesa, Trace waited patiently, while invisible, at the bottom of it. After a short amount of time, Samus came back down, but rather than following her, Trace made his way up the mesa himself.

He could see instantly that this was no ordinary mesa. The pathway up was littered with stones, which were warped or deformed in some way. A few even were spiked (And somewhat familiar to Trace, though he couldn't place his claw on it.) Trace eventually reached the top of the mesa, where he read the tablet that lay upon the ground:

_The center trees, swamps, and other forms of plant life conceal the next clue_

Trace at first couldn't figure it out, but quickly realized that the place in question could only refer to the jungle that was along the planet's equator. Trace noted this, and turned around, intent on heading to the jungle. when movement caught his eye.

He looked over the edge of the mesa, and saw, to his delight, Sylux, Kanden, and Weavel were making their way across the canyon. Apparently, the Mud-Spawn and Half-Bot decided to join with Sylux. Trace positioned himself between two boulders at the cliff's edge; he could get the quickest shot from there. He took aim at Sylux, preparing to shoot him down. He took pleasure in knowing that Sylux would be taken down, then Kanden, then Weavel, then Noxus, then Samus, and after Samus went down, only he would be left of all seven of the—

_Seven?!_

_Wait a minute. Me, Kanden, Sylux, Weavel, Samus, Noxus makes six. And that means—_

It meant that Trace had miscalculated.

_How could I miss that. _The Spiked Boulder! _I should've realized it was _him.

Trace turned around, formulating a new plan, but he didn't get very far, for as soon as he turned around, his vision was obstructed by a massive fist, coming at his face at what seemed to be lightning speed.

Though it was a mere punch-albeit a punch thrown by a very strong being- to Trace it felt like being shot with fifty Omega Cannons all at once. Trace flew back into one of the boulders, hit the boulder, slumped to the ground, and the Kriken lost interest in the events of what happened for a while.

And on the ground, Sylux, Kanden, and Weavel continued on, unaware of how close they had come to being shot down by Trace.

The being who had punched Trace turned around and walked away, already knowing where he needed to go.

* * *

A/N: Yay, an average length chapter. Not as long as my previous one but still good enough.

Things are beginning to heat up here. By the end of the next chapter or chapter after that, the alliances will be made clear.

R&R

And we shall meet again


	7. Lucky Seven, Seven Hunters

A/N: I truly apologize for my lack of updates as of yet. (curse me and my laziness, and curse Mario Kart Wii and its addictiveness).

Anyway, here is a chapter that I threw together. Enjoy it.

**guiltyslayer: I don't think you can post the url of whatever mechquest thing that you want to show me. I'm pretty sure, however, that my plan for the Nova Gem isn't copying mechquest's.**

And without further ado, here we are!

Disclaimer: No matter what happens, all that I have said before will forever remain true. Hopefully.

* * *

As Samus shot down thick foliage with her power beam, she checked the path she was on just to make sure that she wasn't walking in circles.

The clue hadn't told her _where_ in the jungle the gem was, it had just told her that it was in the jungle. That meant she would have to search through every single little section of the jungle until she found the clue.

_The closet that this incident can relate to is the P.E.D. incident, where I and the other three scrambled across the planets, trying to rid them of Phazon_.

She felt a pang of sadness thinking about Ghor, Rundas, and Gandrayda. True, they had become corrupted and had come close to killing her, but that wasn't their decision.

Though Samus knew that it wasn't smart having friends_—_ according to the USROBH, friends will only slow you down_—_ but she knew that, deep down, she would break those rules.

_Maybe things would have gone differently if they hadn't lost control_, Samus thought, _maybe—_

Her thoughts were interrupted by a flash of movement in the trees. A humanoid form could be scarcely seen, its shadow visible through the thick foliage.

Samus approached the form, but it went on the move again. She quickly activated her scan visor, hoping to get some info on what this thing was, but the creature was out of range.

"I've got to increase the power of this thing." Samus muttered as she ran after the form.

Whatever this was seemed to be the type of creature that didn't want to be caught, as it took what Samus guessed were the most convoluted paths through the jungle. She attempted to hit it with missiles to at least slow it down, but her attempts were as futile as an attempt to attack Gorea with an un-charged power beam.

The creature continued on some more foliage, up trees, around trees, and_— _Samus was sure she was imagining this_— through _some trees, until it finally reached a clearing, where Samus noted a thick swamp was, and she finally was able to see it.

Her first thought was that Dark Samus had come back, for it had similar qualities to her Phazon-created nemesis, but when she scanned it, she figured out what it was.

_Wraith: a native creature to the Main Planet. Wraiths were other sentient life-forms prior to the "Espilce Disaster"; energy has mutated their forms, allowing them to pass through objects, and absorb various substances into them_

She aimed her Arm Cannon at the Wraith and fired, but the Wraith dodged the blast easily. She continued to shoot it, and the Wraith continued to fly out of the way, in a rather erratic flight.

Samus fired, and fired some more, and it was only did she see where the Wraith had floated did she stop.

The Shadowy being as over the swamp. It raised its arms, spread them wide, and began to glow with an unnatural power. The swamp below it, as well as the plants near the swamp, began to quiver. They continued to convulse, in such a way Samus thought that it was some kind of earthquake, until the plants tore free of the ground, and the swamp water splashed upward toward the Wraith, and then Samus suddenly realized what it was doing.

Unfortunately, she figured this out too late. The plants and swamp water struck the Wraith, merging with its substance. The merging continued in a vicious cycle, until it ended, and Samus found herself looking at a humanoid creature made of swamp water—though it seemed to look more like acid now— and plants. Samus quickly scanned it, hoping to find a weak spot.

_Swamp Wraith: Wraith has now absorbed tremendous plantlife and acid. Able to shoot jets of acid from its hands and mouth. It focuses most of the acid and plants around its core, the only part of it not to take on the properties of the swamp, as protection; if a Wraith's core it hit directly enough times, it will cause severe destabilization in the Wraith's body, killing it. _

_So the weak spot is where the Wraith will shield itself the most_, thought Samus, _Fair enough_._ It seems plantlike, so the best weapon for use against it probably should be…_

She charged up her Plasma beam and fired it at the Swamp Wraith. The Swamp Wraith responded by shooting a jet of acid from its palm, canceling the beam out. She tried missiles, but the Swamp Wraith increased the foliage around its arm and swatted them away. When shot with the Ice Beam, the Swamp Wraith countered it with more acid, causing the Ice Beam to freeze the acid and subsequently shatter due to the acid's own nature. The Wave Beam was met with an equally powerful three-type shot of its own, canceling it out. An attack made by the power beam met similar results.

_This,_ thought Samus, _Is a problem._

* * *

Noxus, meanwhile, had some problems of his own.

The Vhozon had gone to a trio of volcanoes in the northern hemisphere of the Main planet. The Clue had said: _A Planets blood, a planets flame; the clue lies under these mountains three_, so Noxus took that as meaning the clue was hidden underneath one of a volcano.

The problem, of course, was that it was hidden under a volcano.

Vhozons may hate natural water, but they would rather submerge themselves in a lake, no, an _ocean_ full of natural water than as much as say the word "volcano".

Unfortunately, one's career as a bounty hunter didn't care about one's natural likes and dislikes; it demanded that one explored anywhere, for any price, and come out alive at any cost.

Noxus had trouble making sure those three fit together, though he always made sure that the third one came about.

He was underneath one of the volcanoes, as the clue had said, and he now was looking at one of the most magnificent things he'd ever seen.

After all, though he'd seen a lake of lava during his time on Alinos, never had he seen one like this. It was in what seemed to be a cave miles long and miles high. Geysers several yards long flared up from the lake and the lava flowed in a way that some would call "unique".

Noxus surveyed the lake, looking for some important place, a shrine, maybe, where the clue would be. The only thing he saw, however, was a lonely island out in the middle of the lake.

"If the clue is here," Noxus decided, "Then it is on that island. Of course, the problem here is getting to that island."

Noxus aimed his Judicator above the lake of lava, fully charged it, and fired. What resulted was what he didn't expect: The blasts caused the smoke over the lake to freeze. Noxus, tentatively at first, stepped onto the crude bridge, then continued over it, but was met by an unwelcome sound:

_crrk…_

_craaaack!_

Noxus realized, to his horror, that the bridge he had accidentally made wasn't meant for someone walking on top of it while over a lake of lava. Noxus, scrambling for the shore, barely made it before the heat of the lava melted his bridge.

"I don't really see why that had to happen" fumed Noxus, "It was like a mockery; luring me toward the clue, then forcing me to turn back." He looked over the lake of lava and sighed. "It's times like these that I wish I was a Diamont."

"Well then you'll have to live with the next best thing," an all-too familiar voice rang out, "Being business partners with the last of the Diamonts!"

Noxus saw something shoot past him, roll across the lava, ride up a geyser, fall to the island in the middle of the lake, return to biped, grab the clue, then run back across the lake of lava, tossing the clue to Noxus, who caught it and then watched as an all-too familiar being roll back into Dialanche and come shooting toward Noxus via another lava geyser.

"Spire?"

"What, no 'Hello, Spire'?" Said Spire, "Not even a 'How's the search for the fate of your race, Spire? Heck, I'd even appreciate a 'What took you so long, Spire?'."

"Fine," said Noxus, barely able to stop himself from smiling at the Diamont's words, "What took you so long, Spire? Happy now?"

"Yes, I am. What does the clue say?"

"It says— wait, you didn't tell me what took so long."

"I took a little detour," Said Spire, "now what does the clue say?"

Noxus, knowing that Spire wouldn't reveal what exactly Spire had done during that "detour" yet, looked at the clue, which read:

_The next clue lies within the endless twisting crisscross of caves_

The two hunters pondered what that could have meant for a minute, then Spire figured it out. "When I was looking up information about this planet, I learned that near the eastern part of the desert, there's a cave which is actually a labyrinth. Many beings have gotten lost and died while going through there. I'd say that's where the next clue is."

"Great." Said Noxus sarcastically. "First a volcano, now an endless labyrinth. What's next, on top of a mountain?"

"I don't know, That sounds like it would be interesting. I could easily go up there"

"Well it's a good thing we're partners, isn't it?" Said Noxus, heading for the tunnels to the surface.

* * *

Meanwhile, in a cavern with a control station, the same being that had sent the message leaned back in his chair and smiled. All the hunters were here, and it was only a matter of time until at least one of the Hunters found him. Once he was discovered, he would have an excuse to be "active". Once that would happen, everything could unfold as planned.

Everything.

* * *

A/N: I actually like this chapter a lot.

All the hunters are now in the picture, a little foreshadowing here and there, and… just wait and see what happens next.

R&R

And We shall meet again


	8. Wraithing in Pain

* * *

A/N: Okay, okay, I understand

A/N: Okay, okay, I understand. I haven't updated in a while, and I know that my avid readers are itching for the next chapter. So, today, I broke through the shell of Writer's block and am now bringing you this work. Enjoy it.

Actually, the main reason I've had Writer's block is because I've kind of ran dry of ideas. It was only after I realized that the only thing I had to work with was Samus' battle with the Swamp Wraith did inspiration strike me.

So now, here we go. We pick up with the alliance of Kanden Weavel, and Sylux. How long do you think it will take for Kanden to mess it up? Let's find out.

* * *

The alliance of Weavel, Kanden, and Sylux trekked through the arid desert; that was the only way to the abandoned hangar. Although Weavel had suggested using their ships to reach it, Sylux had pointed out that they had no idea what defenses had been set up by these beings for unwary stragglers, so on foot it was.

Luckily, the hangar wasn't that far away; a few hours walk from the quarry would get them to the old (and probably only) building on the planet.

They had been walking in silence for quite some time when something occurred to Weavel. "Sylux," he began, "May I ask you a question?"

"If it's 'are we there yet?' I don't want to hear it."

"No, it's not that. It's about the Lockjaw."

Sylux stopped moving for the briefest of moments before saying, "Go on."

"Well, it's no mystery about most of our alt-forms. Mine is a result of the mechanical add-ons to my body, Kandens was part of the experiment, Trace, Noxus—"

"And Spire," Kanden cut in.

"Exactly. All three of those are traits their species share. And Samus' morph ball is just a nice addition to her Power Suit."

"Is there a point to this?" Sylux growled, "Or are you just rambling on about where your alt-forms came from?"

"There's a point, don't worry," Weavel said, "The point is: What about _your_ alt-form? How did you gain the ability to transform into a Federation weapon?"

Sylux turned around and stared Weavel in the face. He then said a single word:

"Falling."

Weavel said nothing. Judging from the reaction Sylux had to his question, it was best not to pursue the subject.

They continued to walk on, the planet's odd "dark-light" seemed to add gloom to the walk, and throw their shadows into a deeper black.

So it was a shock to Sylux when part of a shadow of a massive cliff sprang to life and floated in front of them.

Weavel took a firing stance, preparing to shoot if the shadow made any hostile movements. The cybernetic pirate noted how part of its center was a glowing red.

Kanden, meanwhile, took no such precautions; he simply aimed his Volt Driver at the shadow and fired.

The shot passed through the shadow like a gas.

"Kanden, you brick-headed dope, that's a Wraith!" Sylux yelled, "I highly doubt that electro-magnetic energy will work on Living shadows."

The Wraith then made its move, swooping down- not toward Kanden, Weavel, or Sylux- but to the cliff whose shadow that it had just came from.

"Well, at least I did something," Kanden shot back, "I scared it off."

Sylux was about to yell something that would no doubt be highly offensive, when the earth began to rumble. The tremors were so violent, that the face of the cliff began to come down in chunks

_No,_ Weavel realized. _It's not coming down, it's forming into something!_

That became apparent as rocks began to take an even clearer shape, forming arms, legs and a head around a body- a body, Sylux observed, that was covered by slithering shards of the-

_Wait a minute._

"Weavel, Kanden, shoot the body! The Wraith's about to-"

Sylux's yell came too late, as the Stones finished joining with the Wraith, and the newly born giant Stone Wraith stood tall, gazing down at the three hunters as if they were bugs.

"Damn it."

* * *

Trace struggled back up, his head still ringing from the blow.

What was going on here? Why did he have the most awful headache? How did he get _here_? His last memory was drawing a bead on Sylux's back, claw on the trigger and-

_Hold it! Spire! I turned around and he punched me!_

Trace knew that this had swung him at a serious disadvantage. Twice now, he'd fallen behind due to intervention by other hunters. At first, he'd been even with Samus, but now she was ahead of him, and he couldn't be knocked out of the hunt yet.

_And knowing Samus,_ he though grimly as he signaled the _Stealth Snipe_ to pick him up, _she's probably two clues ahead of me._

* * *

Spire and Noxus calmly walked through the volcanic tunnels, both of them steeling themselves for the treacherous cavern maze that lay in wait for them.

"Noxus," Spire said at one point, when they stopped right near a path that dropped near several average-sized pools of lava, "Where do the others stand?"

"Well," Noxus began, "I froze Trace upon landing, but no doubt he's unfrozen by now and back in the running."

"He'll still be far behind, though," Spire cut in, "I punched him right before he was about to snipe Sylux, Weavel, or Kanden- one of the three. _That_ is why I was delayed."

"Ah," Noxus muttered. Then the full impact of what Spire had said hit him. "Wait, you mean that those three are in an _alliance_?"

"I'd consider it a shaky one, personally. Weavel and Kanden have been allied since the Alimbic incident, but I'm not sure how they'd react to Sylux in their midst and—"

"Wait." Noxus interrupted, "Something's wrong here."

Spire was about to ask what specifically was wrong when he figured it out:

A long shadow was twisting in and around the pools of lava. Spire could clearly see a reddish glow in the middle of the Shadow even through the thick lava pools. "I'm going to have to say that's a Wraith."

"What gave it away?" Noxus said, "The fact that it's a moving shadow?"

"Not the time or place, Noxus. We need to figure out how to deal with this thing."

The Wraith Floated up above the pools of lava, and then abruptly dove into the thick, fiery liquid.

"That fool!" Noxus exclaimed, "It's never going to survive that—"

Before he could finish that sentence, the lava began to bubble, like a giant, flaming cauldron. The lava rose upward, and then formed itself into a humanoid shape.

"Great," Noxus said sarcastically, "A Magma Wraith. Just what the Doctor ordered."

"Oh, I don't know." Spire said, "It's about time I got some action."

"If you ask me, this kind of action isn't the type _I'd_ want."

* * *

Had Samus heard Noxus' complaint, she would have agreed with the Vhozon in every way, shape, and form.

The armor-clad human was shooting at the Swamp Wraith; trying to find a way past its thick defenses. But no matter what she fired at it, it just kept on blocking in some way. It seemed that she was up against an invincible opponent.

Then she noticed something. Each time the Wraith shot foliage to block a missile, or fired acid from its palm, more of that substance drifted toward it, and was absorbed into its body. It took several seconds of pondering before Samus figured out what it meant:

_It's bringing more plantlife and swamp acid into it. It's recharging its resources!_

It all became clear. _It doesn't have an infinite supply. Just as I have to find missile packs to replenish my supply, the Wraith must absorb more plants and swamp acid, or it won't be able to keep the transformation intact and block my attacks at the same time._

Only one questioned remained now: How to turn this to her advantage?

* * *

Meanwhile, the alliance of three was having trouble against _their_ Wraith.

It should have been easy to take down the Stone Wraith. Enough shots would have shattered the stone, and shooting the Wraith's core after that would bring down the creature with ease.

As it turned out, that wasn't the case at all. The Stone Wraith seemed to have the power to increase the density of its stone; and so far, Weavel's Battlehammer attacks and Sylux's missile attacks weren't doing as much as making a crack it.

Kanden seemed to be having the worst time of the three. The Stone Wraith appeared to have immunity to the electro-magnetic fields generated by the Volt Driver; no doubt a property of the stone that it had absorbed.

To add to all that, the Wraith was giving the three a hard time. It could feel the attacks in the same way one would feel a needle pricking oneself. Infuriated by these attacks, it slammed into the great, and a giant pillar of stone erupted where Weavel had been standing mere moments before. Another slap of the ground demolished the pillar that it had just formed and sent chunks of stone raining down.

This scenario repeated itself thrice more before Kanden decided that the Volt Driver wasn't going to work, and then he went Stinglarva and slithered toward the giant.

Neither Sylux nor Weavel noticed Kandens disappearance, and if they had, they would have focused on that when they were done here.

Sylux had barely avoided a fist of stone slamming into the ground when an idea occurred to him: "Weavel! Shoot the point where the shoulder meets the rest of the body!"

Weavel was confused, but decided that it wasn't best to argue. He pointed his Battlehammer at that part of the Stone Wraith and fired.

* * *

Of all of the three fights, the battle of the Magma Wraith was probably turning in the favor of the Hunters.

Spire correctly guessed that Magmaul would be next to useless against the Wraith, and also correctly guessed that Judicator would devastate it. Between Spire striking it with Dialanche attacks, and Noxus freezing parts of it with Judicator, the Magma Wraith was having a difficult battle.

The Wraith shot several spheres of Magma in Noxus' direction, but Spire rocketed forward, and blocked every one. Before the Wraith could make another move, Noxus froze both of its arms, and Spire struck them both and shattered them… and the Magma Wraith quickly reformed its arms from more lava.

"This is taking too long." Spire muttered, "Whatever damage we do, it just creates more lava to fix it."

"Well I don't see a better way to strike it down!"

"I do," Spire said, and with that, he pointed his Magmaul at the cavern roof.

"Spire?" Noxus asked, surprised, "What the hell do you think you're doing?"

"Destroying the Wraith," Spire said simply, and with that, he fired the Magmaul at its maximum power.

The Superheated magma struck the carven roof and began to melt through it.

"Time to go."

* * *

Samus aimed her Ice Beam at her target, and fired.

Her results were instantaneous: The plants surrounding the swamp were frozen solid. The Wraith could now no longer gather more foliage to defend itself. Samus was about to shoot the swamp acid when the enraged Wraith struck her hard in the chest. She was sent flying and hit one of the frozen plants, shattering it.

She looked up to see the Swamp Wraith looming over her, poised to attack. In desperation, she fired her Plasma Beam.

It struck the Wraith Dead on, setting it on fire. It let out an eerie howl as chunks of it fell away, disintegrating as they did so.

Samus stood up, and was preparing to fire again when the Wraith did something completely unexpected:

It plunged its flaming form into the swamp acid, where Samus could not follow.

She waited for several seconds, and was about to move on when the Wraith shot back out.

But it was far different than the foe she had just fought. Where plants were, there were now shadowy areas, which were slowly being covered by the acid.

"Oh, perfect," She muttered, "I've now turned it from a menace to a full-blown threat. How the hell am I supposed to kill a living acid creature?"

While she was pondering this, the Acid Wraith formed a fist of hardened acid. Samus, quickly realizing the threat, jumped back, but it was too late. The Wraith raised its fist of acid above its hand and—

A long, red beam suddenly lanced through its center. Caught off guard, the let out a final howl before bursting into wisps of shadow.

Samus turned around, looking for the source of the shot, and she finally noticed Trace calmly walking through the foliage, weapon at the ready.

"You're pathetic," he said, "You can't even destroy a cluster of plants without me having to come to your rescue."

"Says the Hunter who looks half-dead."

"If that damned Rock hadn't punched me, I wouldn't have been like this!' Trace snarled, "I'm just glad you'd ran into that Wraith, because that means I still have a chance to become the greatest Kriken that ever lived."

Samus was neither listening nor caring. Her attention had been drawn to the tablet that had appeared where the Wraith had once been. She ran over to it and read it before Trace could figure out what had happened.

_The clue is hidden on the Nightside, in plain sight…_

Samus would have time to decipher that later. Ignoring Trace's cursing after her, she ran back the way she came, signaling the _Gunship_ to pick her up.

Trace ran to the clue, examined it, switched to Triskelion, and skittered off into the jungle.

* * *

Sylux's guess appeared to have worked.

The Stone Wraith's weakest point appeared to be where the shoulders joined the body. Sylux and Weavel had already finished off one arm with this method, and were even now working on the second. The constant double attack was proving to be too much for the Stone Wraith, and its arms were beginning to fragment under the pressure.

It was Kanden who provided the next opportunity. While in Stinglarva form, he had slithered up the back of the Wraith, and dropped a larva bomb onto its shoulder. The bomb detonated, and with its explosion came the destruction of the Wraiths other arm. Kanden dropped down, and returned to Biped just as the Wraith created more stone to form its arms… and in the process, exposed its weak point.

Sylux reacted instantly, firing a full-powered missile into the core. The moment it struck, the Stone Wraith appeared surprised; as if it suddenly figured out what happened. A moment later, it shattered into fragments of stone and shadows.

"Well," Sylux said, "That was quite the exercise."

"Says you," Kanden griped, "I didn't get to shoot anything."

Weavel pointed ahead. "We're close. I think I see the hangar in the distance."

And with that, he moved forward toward the hangar. Moments later, Kanden and Sylux ran after him, determined not to fall behind.

* * *

A/N: Now, I'm pretty sure that was my longest chapter yet, and with good reason: Three battles with Wraiths will make one long chapter

Also, some more foreshadowing included, try and keep your eyes peeled for that

R&R

And we shall meet again.


	9. Mysterious Findings

I'm back, my fellow readers! And with an all-new chapter!

I've thought over a lot about my story while on my hiatus. I might not have gathered up the desire to add another chapter to my story if it weren't for the many reviews of one of my favorite writers here: the one and only tracefan.

During my hiatus, tracefan came and brought so many reviews down on me, I realized then and there that I needed to continue working on my story. Like it or not, Metroid Prime Hunters: The Eclipse Begins is forever bound for completion.

So, on that note, let us begin a new chapter!

**Disclaimer: All that I have said before will forever remain true**

* * *

Spire and Noxus were lost in there thoughts as they trekked up from the volcano from which they'd just escaped from by the skin of their teeth.

Noxus, for one, was wondering what was in store for them as they advanced further toward the gems. What did the riddle mean when it said that these beings were fools to think they could master the Nova Gem? What sort of weapon were they dealing with?

Whatever it had meant, Noxus was sure of one thing: he could not allow any of the Gems to fall into the wrong hands. Whether it was Kanden, who would demolish a building due to boredom, or Sylux, who would attack the Federation at any and every opportunity. If any being with evil in their hearts got hold of these Gems, all of the galaxies would be at stake.

His gaze drifted to Spire, who hadn't said anything since the battle with the Magma Wraith. Of all the Hunters, Spire was probably the last one he'd target when put into a life-or-death situation. Spire was the only one who had a plausible reason for joining in on these fiascos: he simply wanted to learn whatever it was that had happened to his people.

Noxus would never admit it, but he envied Spire in some ways. Spire wasn't bound by his people's laws; he would never have to stop and think about whether or not what he was doing would be something that helped keep the justice and stability of the Galaxies.

_That and he can go in lava without having to worry about being burned to a crisp._

Noxus allowed himself a small smile at that last thought of his.

Spire, meanwhile, was reflecting on what he'd done before he had received the message about these three gems:

He'd just finished another odd job regarding a shipment of "rare material" at Tivus. He'd intercepted and destroyed that shipment, and as a reward he'd gotten Two Hundred Fifty dollars and an information chip regarding the disappearance of his species. When he'd uploaded the information onto the main information output on his ship, the _Eruption_, he'd been both disappointed and intrigued to find these simple words as the information:

_We have not received word from _Project D.E.P. _for several decades._

He was unsure what that meant. He knew he'd heard the phrase "D.E.P." before during his earlier years on his homeworld, but he couldn't figure out what it meant. He'd been contemplating what that had meant when he had gotten the cryptic message. From there, he had rushed to the Espilce system, quickly read the main clue, flew to the oasis, read the next clue, took a quick detour to knock out Trace after he'd spotted the Kriken following Samus, and then made his way to the volcano.

_And now here I am,_ he thought, _exploring this planet with a Vhozon, with no idea of what's coming around each corner._

They walked on for some time in silence; the only sound was the sound of their feet hitting the rocky ground, which briefly turned to sand before giving way to rock once more.

Spire then stopped. "Okay, Noxus," he said, "We're here."

"Yes," said the Vhozon, "But where is here?"

The path which they had walked ended before a massive rock face. There was little of notice in the rock face, except for an opening.

"Welcome to the Espilce Maze Cave."

Noxus looked at Spire in surprise, "You know its name?"

Spire nodded, "I did my research on my way here," he said, "This cave is full of twisting pathways and dead ends. I don't know why these beings that once lived here created it; my guess is that it's a rite of passage of sorts."

For a moment, Noxus thought he'd detected something in Spire's tone. But he quickly dismissed it. "So what do we do?"

"We're going to have to split up," Spire said, handing something to Noxus as he did so.

Noxus regarded this object. It appeared to be a small cylinder with a lone button on it. "What is this? A light rod?"

"No," said Spire, "It's that and a signal rod. Push the button and it will send a signal to mine. If you find something, use it. If something finds you… just don't let anything find you."

And with that, the Diamont entered the cavern. Noxus too entered, taking a path on the left side of the tunnel when it branched out, while Spire took the right. Neither hunter said a word as they entered the cave that would prove to be the staging of an event that would set in motion the fate of the Galaxies.

* * *

Sylux, Kanden, and Weavel were about one hundred yards away form the hangar when Sylux noticed something on his arm scanner:

_Heavy energy signatures detected in nearby vicinity._

"What's that all about?" Sylux muttered. At this, Weavel turned around. "Problem?"

"My scanner's picking up something weird up ahead," he said, "got no idea what it could be, since we're out here in the middle of nowhere."

As if the scanner had heard his comments, a new message appeared:

_Energy signature matches that of energy detected on Delano 7. Identification?_

"No need," said Sylux. He knew what energy the scanner was picking up:

"Quantum-X"

Weavel turned around for the second time in several minutes. "Quantum-X? There's Quantum-X nearby?!"

Sylux nodded. "Weavel," he began, "What do you know about Quantum-X?"

Weavel hesitated before he spoke. "Not much," he said, "I know that it is one of the most deadly substances in all of the Galaxies. It has a very unstable molecular structure, and is extremely powerful."

"Nobody's really sure where Quantum-X originated, but many scientists have their theories. A good section of the Space Pirate Scientists think that it has some connection with Phazon."

"But it can't" said Sylux, "If it did, all Quantum-X would be destroyed when Phaaze was destroyed."

"Point taken," Weavel said, "But many scientists at the Homeworld seem to think that the structures of Quantum-X and Phazon are very similar. But there's more to that…" He trailed off, uneasily.

"Perhaps I should explain from here," Sylux said, "Where Phazon is more based on sickness- often mental sickness- Quantum-X is more… how do I put this? It can… corrupt and destroy physically. Disintegrate, if you will. Raw Quantum-X can destroy nearly anything it touches. I say nearly," he continued as Kanden began to say something, "Because there are a select few substances that are Resistant to Quantum-X, and even then to a point. Perhaps the only substance that is 'immune' to Quantum-X is the planet itself where Quantum-X was first discovered. _That's_ why handling Quantum-X is incredibly risky unless you are 170 sure of what you're doing."

"Hold on," Kanden cut in, "So, if you pointed some Quantum-X at a planet, and fired this Quantum-X at the planet, it could in theory destroy it?"

"That has got to be either your stupidest comment or your smartest," Sylux said, "In theory, yes, you probably could use Quantum-X to destroy a planet. But you'd need a lot of it. That's the one weakness of Quantum-X. It can only corrode so much before it destabilizes, at which point it isn't all that deadly."

"Oh," Kanden said. A full minute of walking passed before he said: "Hey! You—"

Weavel held up and armored hand. "That's enough," he said, "We're here."

The Three Hunters looked at the building that stood before them. It had two floors; on the second floor, they could see an opening that took up one whole wall.

This was the Abandoned Hangar.

* * *

The Armored being watched as the events unfolded.

_Enough_, he thought, _I grow weary of all this standing around and waiting. It's time for me to make my grand entrance._

He pushed another button on his control board, and allowed himself a small smile. This was it.

Now, his plan would truly begin.

* * *

Spire was walking through a corridor when he abruptly heard rumbling.

He whirled around. Where there was once an opening there was now nothing but blank stone. However, next to that blank stone there was an all-new opening.

"Now what's that all about?"

* * *

Weavel, Kanden, and Sylux entered the Hangar, weapons at the ready.

"Split up," said Weavel, "We don't know where the clue is; we can cover more ground if we don't stay together. It's the _logical thing to do_," he added as Sylux shot him a dirty look, "If we cover more ground, we can get the clue faster."

Sylux said nothing; he simply went Lockjaw and began to search the Hangar. Kanden went for the stairs of the hangar, while Weavel explored some of the first floor rooms. All the cybernetic Space Pirate found, much to his disappointment, were various supplies and documents that were too weathered to read. He was about to find Sylux and ask him if he had any luck when a surprised yell from Kanden came from the second floor. He ran for the stairs, and only then did he notice Sylux waiting for him at the bottom.

"I think Kanden's found something," he said.

"What tipped you off," said Sylux sarcastically. "More likely that something's found him."

Weavel ignored him and ran up the stairs. Sylux decided that he'd better keep an eye on them, and followed Weavel up the stairs.

When they reached the stop, they found Kanden with the clue in his hand, but that wasn't what had caught the attention of the Enoema. Weavel, for one, found this very strange, even for Kanden.

"What's going on?" he asked, "You've found the clue, so what more—" he then saw that Kanden was pointing at something, and saw what that something was.

"Now how did we miss _that_?"

* * *

Spire continued down the now one-way passage.

He still had no idea why many of the Pathways had suddenly become closed off or why new pathways had suddenly appeared. He hoped Noxus wasn't in the same tricky situation as he was.

He'd been walking for who knew how long, when he noticed a soft glow up ahead. _A clue, perhaps? Or the room where the clue is?_

Whatever it was, it was worth investigating, and it seemed to be the only path he could take anyway. He ran to the glow, only to find himself in a room that sharply contrasted the rest of the cavern.

Maybe contrasted the rest of the planet.

And standing in the middle of the room was…

"And who might you be?"

* * *

A/N: Cliffhanger time! Who doesn't love a good cliffhanger?

The Hunter alliance of three has found something very strange in the Hangar, even as Spire finds something… or someone… in the maze cave.

And what of Trace and Samus? What was the "Nightside" that the clue mentioned in the previous chapter?

All will be revealed in the next chapter.

So, as always, R&R

And we shall meet again!


	10. Ship, Night, and A Meeting

A/N: I'm back and roaring with an all-new chapter!

And I've Beaten MP3 100 Percent!

Good. Now where we last left off in our grand adventure, Spire discovered something in the Espilce Maze Cave, while in the Abandoned Hangar, the Alliance of three made a discovery of their own.

Now I _know _you want to figure out what that something is, but we need to make a quick detour first. A detour to Samus and Trace, whom we've not seen since the battle with the Wraith.

On we go!

**Disclaimer: All that I've said before remains true. However, I am introducing two new important things in this chapter. Though one is completely mine, the other is based off of something owned by Lucasfilm, Kevin J. Anderson, and Bantam Books**

* * *

Samus sat in the cockpit of the _Gunship_, trying to figure out what the clue had meant.

Puzzles usually weren't difficult for her. When she was on the Pirate Homeworld, she had figured out how to evade detection by the Pirates in their "factories", for want of a better word, while finding the Hazard Shield which would grant her access past the Acid Rain, and could easily destroy the Seed's Shield.

But this time, she was stumped.

_Nightside? What is this Nightside it talks about? And why does it say it's in "plain sight?"_

She turned to her computer's main A.I. interface. "Adam, what do you know about this place's nature? Does it vary depending on… on…"

"I think the word you're looking for is 'time', Lady," Adam said, "And, yes, I do think that—"

"Wait," Samus interrupted, "What makes you think that it's time?"

"It's naturally that," Adam said, "Nightside? That clearly implies the word 'night', which in turn implies time is involved."

Samus thought she could detect a hint of smugness in the mechanized voice, but ever since the "X incident", she'd expected such showings of emotion. "Okay, okay then. How does nature vary with time then?"

"From the looks of things, it's more based around time of day, rather than passage of years. The now shadowed-out sun has emitted the unnatural energy signatures all across the planet, giving it reliance on those energy signatures. As long as they face the sun, they can draw nourishment from them."

"However, if a part of the planet is _not_ facing the sun, as one would when it's night for it, the planet couldn't draw from the energy for approximately twelve hours. It would… become different."

Samus got up. "So what you're telling me that what the clue means by Nightside is just… the side of the planet at night?"

"Yes, that seems the case."

"Very well then," Samus said. She was about to say something else when something occurred to her. "If the Nightside is simply night on the planet… which part of the planet is the Nightside mentioned in the clue?"

Adam said nothing.

"Well, it will just have to be a case of trial and error," Samus said, almost to herself, "Adam, take the _Gunship_ to the current Nightside."

* * *

"Wow."

Sylux glanced at Weavel. "That's it? Nothing else you have to say?"

Weavel Shrugged. "What else do I need to say? It's in great condition, despite being here for many years, no doubt about that. And it's built in a style that I've never seen before."

"It's still a ship," Sylux said, "As far as I'm concerned, a ship's a ship. Nothing special about it."

This ship in question wasn't that big. At best, it could fit two, maybe three people in it. It was shaped almost like a fire gem, with a round-ish top with long, sloping triangular sides which converged at the bottom. A notable feature of the ship was that at the bottom, there was some sort of satellite dish-shaped opening. Its surface was black, and gleamed, even in the low light.

And then Sylux realized something: This was the ship he'd detected back in the _Delano 7_ above the planet!

He dared not say this. He didn't want Weavel and Kanden to know that this he'd detected this ship earlier.

Kanden had nothing to say. Rather, he was examining the ship as if it were a Metroid Specimen.

"Kanden," Weavel began, "What are you doing?"

"Oh, nothing," He began, "It's just that I can't help thinking that I've read about this ship somewhere before."

Sylux barely restrained his jolt of surprise. He managed to say: "Where? I don't think this ship exists anywhere in the records of any group."

"I know," Kanden said, "I've read about it in… a novel, I think."

"You read _novels_?" A surprised Weavel asked.

"You _read_?" an even more surprised Sylux remarked. When Weavel and Kanden looked at him quizzically, he said: "Okay, let me rephrase that question: You _can_ read?"

Had anyone been standing outside the hangar at that time, they would have heard the sound of a surprised yell, and a crash. Had that person still been outside, they would have seen something very surprising: Sylux flying out of a shattered window and landing on the ground.

The Hunter got up and yelled: "I'll take that as your saying that 'this alliance is officially over!'"

And with that, he walked away.

"Weavel glanced down at the ground where Sylux had landed. "As far as good ideas go Kanden, not one of your better ones."

"Why?" Kanden said, not distressed at all. "He insulted my intelligence, I threw him out of the building. Fair's fair."

Weavel had to restrain the urge to leap across the room and grab Kanden by the throat. "Why?!" he yelled, "WHY?! That's Sylux, you miserable excuse of a Lesser Ithrak, SYLUX! You just got both of us on to his bad side, and now nothing's stopping him from sending us to hell if he has the chance!"

"And why should he? He never got a chance to read the clue, remember?"

"Why should he? He— wait, you mean he never looked at the clue?"

Kanden shook his head. "I was holding on to it when you two came up." He held up the tablet. "See?"

Weavel looked at the tablet, reading its inscription:

_The next clue will be found in the one- pathed cave…_

"Why are these things never clear?" He muttered, even as he went for the hangar stairs.

* * *

Trace was in the cockpit of the _Stealth Snipe_, analyzing the Nightside clue when an alert flashed onto his ship.

Gunship _Approaching_.

"Okay," Trace said, "Follow while staying out of radar range. Cloak if necessary."

_Affirmative_

* * *

As Samus flew onto the Nightside of the planet, Adam announced something else:

"Lady, I'm detecting _Disrupter-Type_ energy in the atmosphere."

"Class?"

"_Theta"_

Samus frowned. _Theta _class disrupters were more targeted against electrical systems. Of course, her suit was one big electrical system, so that could mean… "Threat Level."

"The energy could prove to be disastrous to your Power Suit. Zero Suit use is recommended."

"If I use that, I'm a sitting Shriekbat for Trace and whatever else is out there."

"And if you keep your Power Suit on, it will end up as a repetition of the _Orpheon_ incident. Would you want that?"

Samus paused to consider that. What happened on the _Orpheon_ was a disaster. Still, using her Zero Suit would be suicide. "What parts of the Power Suit would be disrupted?"

"Morph Ball, Grapple Beam, and the Plasma, Wave, and Ice beams. Possible Loss of Gravity Suit power as well."

"Okay," Samus said, "I'm taking those off-line until I return to the ship. I'll bring them back n when that's done."

Adam said nothing. Samus guessed that he was agreeing with her plan. "Prepare to deactivate those parts."

There was a brief pause, and then Samus felt a sudden weakness as she felt parts of her Suit deactivating..

"There. It's done. Now let's find a suitable place to land."

* * *

"I _said_, who might you be?"

Spire said nothing at first; while he was sizing up the being that stood before him.

_I gotta remember to have a talk with the Chozo- if I can ever have a talk with the Chozo- about how they change the style of the power suit._

For the being that stood before him looked a hell of a lot like Samus, but the armor was more… sleek, it seemed.

That, and it was black with crimson energy flowing through it with a multicolored aura.

At last, Spire managed to say: "What's with that glow?"

"That? Oh that's just an aftereffect of staying here to long. This planet's energy can make electronics go haywire, given enough time."

"Though that doesn't explain why your station—" he gestured toward the many computers that lined the area— "Remains normal looking."

"And I'm done answering your questions," the being said, leveling his weapon at Spire's face. "My turn now— who are you and what's your business here?"

Spire looked at the weapon that the stranger was holding. It closely resembled the Nova Beam, but it was darker, had the same crimson energy running across it, and a long, clawlike appendage protruded from it.

The Diamont had a nasty feeling about what that could do. He began to talk while holding the signal rod behind his back, reaching for the button.

"I'm surprised you don't realize who I am," He said, "Haven't you seen the Last of The Diamonts?"

"Last?" The Being said, "I di— Oh, wait a moment. That can only mean… Spire's your name, isn't it?"

"Yes. Now why don't you identify yourself to me? It's only fair."

At this he managed to hit the rod's button. It was only a matter of time now.

"I'm not sure if that's a good definition of 'fairness'" the being said, leaning against the wall, "But very well. My name….

"Is Eclipse."

* * *

A/N: Dun dun dun…

(I've yet to play Metroid Fusion, so forgive me if Adam's 'Personality" is off)

As the alliance of three dissolves back into two with the discovery of a strange ship, Spire meets a strange being in the Maze Cave.

Who is this mysterious Eclipse?

What will Weavel and Kanden do now that Sylux is on even ground with them?

And where is Noxus in all this?

Tune in to find out in the next exciting chapter.

R&R

And we shall meet again!


	11. And Now, We are Three

A/N: Five days

A/N: Five days.

Five Days.

Five _freaking_ Days have passed since my last update.

With all this free time on my hands, chapters are pouring in. I haven't made this recent of an update since the early days of my fic.

**Master Xanat: Yeah, I know. I just don't find the timeline very… appealing. I mean, seriously. A Sci-fi, planet-hopping adventure series realsed in an unchronological order? **_**Gee, I wonder what that's referencing**_**…**

In all seriousness though, I don't like the timeline. So expect my stories to not follow it.

Yeah, you heard me right. _Stories_. Metroid Prime Hunters: The Eclipse Begins is officially the beginning of a saga!

For those who want to read other stories that I plan on making (Namely the Eon Saga) will have to wait. As I stated in my profile, the Eon Saga's on hold, and will remain so until I hear from Ashman66.

If you want a taste of it, though, and you're a part of the Cave of Dragonflies forums, you can join it as an RP called the Eon war, which is also collaborative, and I'm going to shut up now so the advertising will end and the chapter can begin.

**Disclaimer: All that I've said before remains true now**

* * *

Noxus traveled through the Espilce Maze Cave, wary of any ambushes.

He'd yet to find anything, not even a carving that could help him unravel the planet's history. Nothing.

He assumed Spire wasn't having any luck either, due to the signal rod being silent.

Thinking of Spire made him recall the tone he'd heard in the Diamont's voice as they had found the maze cave. What was it about the cave…

"_A Rite of passage", he'd said. Perhaps the Diamonts had a rite of passage of their own._

Noxus knew very little, bordering on nothing, of Spire's race. Why shouldn't he? He knew the Diamonts rarely committed acts that were unjust, so he, or any Vhozon for that matter, wouldn't need to go after one. From what Spire had sometimes said about them, they weren't ones to start a war, either.

_That's what makes them so different from the Kriken, the Space Pirates, the Federation… and even us Vhozon. Where the Diamonts are neutral, we are… easy to set off… we'll find grounds to start a war in anything, perhaps _everything_ that's "Unjust."_

The Vhozon was interrupted by his signal rod beginning to vibrate and emit a loud noise.

_Spire's found something then, _he thought, _either that or something's found him…_

* * *

Sylux was swearing in two languages as he took the _Delano 7_ to the shrine where the search had begun.

He might be out of the running, seeing as he never saw the clue, and his entire chance to get the Gem hinged on a theory.

A _theory._

_A plausible theory_, he thought, _but a theory nonetheless._

After all, if the tablets at the shrine were actual clues, who's to say that they weren't _linked_ to the clues?

_If I'm right, I still have a chance. If I'm wrong, then I'm finished._

He'd have to guess where they were headed next. He could guess wrong, and then what?

He decided not to think about that as he landed at the shrine. He made his way to the pile of tablets on the shrine.

He began to inspect the tablets, careful not to touch the front of them, but still able to read what they said.

It was then that he noticed something:

The tablets on the shrine weren't arranged haphazardly, which they'd seemed as much at first glance. Rather, the pile, when inspected close enough, was actually _three _piles clustered together. What's more, the tablets were arranged so that they were in order. Not only that, some of them were glowing

_Incredible. Not only was my theory correct, but I have all I need to gain the gems._

He looked at the last glowing one in one pile. It read:

_The next clue will be found in the one- pathed cave…_

A glance at other tablets in the pile confirmed that this was the path he'd been going on.

_Okay, so there's apparently some form of cave other than the Maze Cave here. I need to just go to that cave and…_

_Wait._

_Why do that when I can do that _and_ get even at the same time?_

Sylux examined another clue in "his pile".

_Perfect._

He quickly grabbed the other tablets in "his pile" and went for his ship. After placing them inside, he quickly looked at the clue that had been placed "after" the one-pathed cave clue.

_Okay then. Let's have a little fun…_

* * *

As the _Gunship _prepared to land at the Nightside, Samus wondered what Trace had managed to guess with the clue about the Nightside.

_Doubtless that he's found some way to figure out that this is simply the planet at night. I don't think Spire's here to punch him this time._

The landing ramp began to descend, and Samus realized that she would figure out if Trace made it here or not soon enough. Steeling herself for whatever the Nightside had in store for her, she stepped down the landing ramp and onto the Main Planet… as a whole different world.

* * *

Trace saw the _Gunship_'s descent, and realized that Samus was going groundside.

_Guess she's figured out where the next clue is. Always good to follow a human; they always know what they're doing._

He punched in the command for the _Stealth Snipe_ to land, and as it began the landing sequence, hissing all the while, he grinned.

With this, he was one step closer to gaining the next clue, which would in turn get him closer to gaining the Gem, and that would lead him to achieving his glory, and the glory of the Kriken.

* * *

Samus stopped.

_Was that—_

It had to have been

"Okay," she muttered, "I'm going to need to readjust my strategy."

* * *

"_Eclipse?"_

"Yes," Eclipse said, "A strange name, to be sure, but I've always found a… satisfaction in it. So, you've now answered one of my two questions, now answer the other— what is your business here?"

Spire realized that he had to tread carefully. This Eclipse could very well be a native to this place, and wouldn't be very happy about Spire's attempt to hunt down one of the Gems.

"I'm a Bounty Hunter. My business here is just that— business. And I don't think you need to know about it."

"Really? What could be here that someone like you desires? I don't thi—wait a minute."

Eclipse lowered his weapon. "I see. You're here to find the Gems. How… interesting."

"You know?"

"How could I not? It's the only thing that this place has that's worthwhile. It only makes sense that any Hunter would want one. Why you looking for it anyway? Did someone tell you that if you brought them any one, or all three, of the Gems, they'd tell you what happened to your people?"

"No, actually, I received a message telling me to come here, and that the Gems were on this planet."

For the briefest of moments, Spire thought he saw Eclipse suddenly stop.

"A Message, eh? I see. Well, it just so happens that the next clue…" He pressed a few buttons at one of his computers, and a slot in the wall opened. Eclipse then reached in and pulled out two things: A small cylinder, and a tablet.

Spire didn't even notice the cylinder. His eyes were drawn to the tablet. "So that's the next clue, then."

"Free of charge," Eclipse said, "There's more that I have, mind you… information that might interest you."

"Information?" Spire repeated, "And I take it that this information is—"

Whatever it was that Spire had to say was interrupted as Noxus stumbled into the room.

"I got here as fast as I could, Spire," the Vhozon said, panting with exhaustion, "What did you—" he stopped as he saw Eclipse. "Who the hell is this?"

"My name's Eclipse, thank you for asking," Eclipse said, "And I have the next clue, so there's no need to try freezing me."

Noxus' eyes narrowed at Eclipse. "So you have the next clue. Big deal. Once we know where the clue after this one is, I could easily freeze you."

"You could," Eclipse said, "But you won't. You wouldn't freeze me any more than a Kriken would want to pick a fight with a Mannariin."

Noxus froze. Metaphorically speaking, of course.

"So… you know of them…"

Before Eclipse could say anything more, Spire cut in. "Okay, that's enough. We can freeze and pick fights later. Noxus, I say it's time we get going."

"Fine." Noxus said, not taking his gaze off Eclipse. "Is _he_ coming?"

"Only if he wants to," Spire replied. As he said this, Eclipse began to walk toward the two.

"And now," Spire said, even as Noxus made a rather frustrated sound, "We are three."

* * *

Trace couldn't believe his luck. He'd been following Samus as she trekked across the landscape of the Planet, and she hadn't noticed him. She hadn't even heard or seen the _Stealth Snipe_ as it landed behind a rock formation, even though he'd had cloaking off.

_This is perfect,_ he thought, _I'll take her down once she reaches the next clue, and then there will be one less Hunter to worry about._

Trace planned it all out as he and Samus continued to walk. Eventually, they reached a dead end in an area that consisted of several rock pillars, along with an indentation on a far rock wall. She still didn't seem to notice Trace leveling his weapon and preparing to fire.

_All too easy, _he thought, _it truly is a dead end_.

Had trace been even slightly more alert, he would have realized one minor detail: the area was open to the sky. Even Kanden knew to take cover in an area open to the sky when dealing with Samus.

This never occurred to Trace, so he'd just have to learn it the hard way.

A lone, glittering projectile fell from the sky as trace began to depress the trigger. As the projectile hit the ground about four yards from where the Kriken was standing, it exploded, throwing off Trace's aim.

The red beam hit the canyon wall inches from Samus' head. that was enough to make her turn around.

"Just as I suspected," She said, "Did you really think I'd dropped my guard?"

"What—? How the hell did you…?" Trace was at a loss for words.

"Look up."

Trace looked up, and saw, much to his horror, the Gunship accelerating as it flew away.

"A bombing run, Trace. I knew you would try to follow me; after the battle with the Wraith, I realized that I would need to take precautions. So when I heard your ship landing, I prepared my ship for a bombing run when I reached a predetermined location: here."

"Oh, you prepared, did you?" Trace snarled, "And I suppose, with Rundas, Ghor, and Gandrayda, you _prepared_?"

Samus froze. "What did you just say?"

"You heard me," Trace said, grinning savagely, "You couldn't save them. Rundas even committed suicide on Bryyo, and you couldn't stop it. You couldn't stop Ghor from damaging the Aurora Unit on Skytown. You were even fooled by Gandrayda into trusting her on the Pirate Homeworld."

Trace was unprepared for how viciously Samus leapt at him. The Kriken couldn't even do anything to stop her from grabbing his gun arm and slamming it to the ground. She then leveled her arm cannon at him.

"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't send you to hell right here and now."

Trace didn't panic, or beg for mercy. Instead he said: "Oh, so it seems I touched a nerve here? It seems that you broke the Unspoken Rules?"

"Shut up."

"I was right. You actually were soft enough to—"

"_Shut_ _up_, damn it!' Samus yelled, charging her Power Beam.

Trace tried to get his Imperialist up to aim at Samus, but his gun arm was hit to hard, and he knew that he couldn't do it and live at the same time. In the end, there was only one thing he could do.

He lifted his Imperialist inches from the ground, and fired it at a rock pillar. It shattered with tremendous force, causing Samus' gaze to waver for three quarters of a second.

That was all Trace needed to roll away from Samus.

The Kriken stood up, and faced the human.

"Given the condition of your arm, you couldn't shoot me before I shoot you, and you know it," Samus snarled, "You're finished."

Trace knew she was right. He was beaten, and badly.

"Going to run, I suppose. Going to simply hover out of sight like the coward you are."

"You're right, Aran. I can't face you now, and I'd be a fool to try. But I'm not done. We'll face each other soon enough."

_And next time,_ he thought, _I should watch what I say._

The Kriken staggered out of the area. Samus let him go, against her better judgment. She simply said two words:

"You'll Pay."

She then went to the indentation in the wall, trying to forget about what just happened and focus on the situation at hand.

_In plain sight…_

Suddenly, it hit her.

_Of course!_

She reached for the indentation, and grabbed when her hand was inside it.

Her fingers closed around something solid.

_Yes._

She took out the clue, which became visible upon its removal. It read as follows:

_Follow the path of the wind…_

As with before, Samus knew that she would have to decipher this riddle in her ship. She couldn't be out here. Something was…

She couldn't explain it. Never had she lost control of her emotions like that.

_There's something wrong with this place,_ she thought, _and I need to figure out what it was, and quickly._

* * *

A/N: An interesting chapter, to be sure. I surprised myself during Trace and Samus' confrontation. I was not expecting Samus to react that way… and I'm the author here!

I don't want anyone asking who the Mannariin are. I will not respond to your review if you ask. A word of warning to you all.

This also won't be the last time you'll see one of the Hunters… go off the way Samus did.

Spire and Noxus find an ally in the mysterious Eclipse, and Sylux has a plan in mind for gaining the clues.

But what was the information Eclipse was talking about?

And what of Weavel and Kanden? We've yet to see how they're faring.

You don't want to miss the next exciting chapter

R&R

And we shall meet again!


	12. Eclipse's Mystery

A/N: I live on, folks. After all this time, I update again.

If you want to understand why I've been out for so long, see my profile.

Other than that, I've nothing to say.

**Disclaimer: I think I've proved my point with these disclaimers

* * *

**

Weavel was furious.

He'd been furious with others before, namely Ridley. There was that disaster at Norion, for example. He had known that Meta Ridley planned to ambush Samus at Generator C. He also knew that this would have a better chance of destroying Meta Ridley than it did of Samus. He tried to stop the Dragon from making that move. But, overconfident as usual, Meta had gone and attacked Samus at generator C… and subsequently fell to his death.

Then there was the fiasco at SR338 with the baby Metroid. The newly resurrected Ridley had gone and taken down the Colony at Ceres, thinking that it would be best for him to take the last Metroid.

Weavel knew the stupidity in this move. Samus would obviously come and annihilate their Stronghold, like she had once before. But did Ridley listen? No, he chose to go and take it, and this would result in too many Pirate deaths.

Weavel had clashed with other Pirates as well during invasions and captures. (Thankfully, the only part he had in the Phazon incident was the invasion of Norion; he'd taken a job shortly afterward.)

But nothing could compare to the outright fury he had at Kanden now. True, he was doing a good job of keeping it bottled up, but sooner or later, Kanden would blunder again… and Weavel would lose it.

Despite the fact that Sylux never got to see the clue in the hangar, Weavel was still infuriated with Kanden for throwing Sylux out of the building. The Cybernetic Space Pirate now was only allied with one Hunter… so, once more, Weavel had to rely on Kanden for clearing the path of obstacles, all the while making sure the mutant didn't do anything that would get them both killed. What's more, he couldn't shake the fact that Sylux had some sort of revenge ready.

What worried him, though, was that the Hunter had yet to take his revenge.

He had a hunch that Kanden was thinking the exact same thing, but the mutant wouldn't dare voice that note, for fear of driving Weavel off the deep end.

_For once, Kanden, you made a good move.

* * *

_

Noxus, as usual, was lost in his thoughts.

Spire had proven that even the smartest of beings could be impulsive in his decision to ally with this "Eclipse." Clearly, whoever this being was, he had something Spire wanted.

Something more than the clue.

It didn't take a Mannariin to guess what Eclipse had that Spire wanted: information about what happened to the Diamonts.

_This shouldn't happen,_ he thought, _I shouldn't _let_ this happen. Something about him feels _wrong. _Such as how and why he ended up here. This place is in the middle of scenic Nowhere. Only us Hunters would come here, and that's for the Gems._

_Which means… he too is seeking them. No doubt he is intending to use us to find the Gems and then kill us once they've been found. Commendable and Predictable. He made one mistake, though:_

Noxus leveled his Judicator at Eclipse.

_He turned his back on a Vhozon._

Noxus opened fire, and the moment he did so, Eclipse whirled around and jumped up.

Apparently, the being had anticipated Noxus' paranoia.

Eclipse pointed his strange-looking weapon at Noxus, and fired off two shots of what looked like pitch-black meteors the size of a human adult's hand. Noxus went Vhoscythe and the projectiles flew straight over him, and struck a boulder.

What happened next was possibly the most bizarre- and disturbing –thing that Noxus had ever seen:

Having been struck by… whatever they were, the boulder began to decay. It had decayed for a good two seconds before the remains folded upon themselves and crumpled, turning into what Noxus suspected was a black hole.

That is, a black hole the approximate size of a human head.

The black hole remained in that position briefly, and then it once again folded on itself and vanished.

Noxus returned to biped, too shocked by what had just happened to fire. He instead chose to glare daggers at Eclipse, who calmly aimed the weapon at his face.

"Now then, are we going to stop, or do I have to use this on _you_?"

Before Noxus could answer, Spire (who had been at the head of the group this whole time) moved between the two.

"Let me answer that: you won't. I don't want the two of you trying to kill each other until _after_ we found the Gems. _Right?_" he said, staring at Noxus

Noxus opened his mouth to say something (something which undoubtedly contained several offensive words) but then he thought better of it.

"Good," Spire said, "Now then, let's continue, shall we?"

Without waiting for an answer, he walked onward, Eclipse following suit. Noxus ran forward until he was next to Eclipse.

_If I'm going to be stuck with this being, I might as well try and be friendly with him…_

"I'd like to… apologize for my actions earlier. With everything that I've seen and done, you can't blame me for being suspicious of you."

Eclipse glanced at Noxus before saying: "No, I suppose I can't. I too would be mistrustful of someone that my ally found in a labyrinth."

"Good, good." Noxus said, privately wondering once again how Eclipse had ended up in that labyrinth in the first place. The three walked on for a while longer before Noxus spoke again:

"Tell me, would it be rude of me if I asked what exactly that weapon was?"

For a moment, Eclipse looked taken aback at Noxus' question. Then, that moment was gone, and Eclipse let off a small laugh.

"I can understand why you'd want to know, considering what you saw. Haven't you ever heard the old proverb 'knowing will only cause you pain?'"

"Yes, I've heard it," Noxus lied, "But as a Hunter, I think I have a right to—"

"I think you're using the term 'right' very loosely," Eclipse said, "Nobody has an immediate right to anything. In due time, we all—"

"You know what I mean," Noxus interrupted, "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to, you know."

"Oh, I'd be happy to tell you. The weapon is called an Ecligun," Eclipse said, "It fires off condensed forms of a chemical I found on this planet. When it's been condensed in this form, its inner energy is sealed inside. Once it hits something, it releases that energy, and that energy causes internal corruption and a molecular destabilization."

"And that black hole…"

"That would be an… aftereffect. The energy only temporarily causes breakdown. There's always energy that it can't immediately expend, but it has to get rid of it all, and quickly. So after that decay, it releases all the rest of that energy in one burst, and that burst speeds up and maximizes the energy's power. What you saw is what the energy is capable of when it's raw."

"Is this chemical exclusive to the planet?"

"I'm not sure. Why?" Eclipse said. Noxus stared at him. When he had said that…

_He's lying_, Noxus thought. Aloud, he said: "Oh, no reason. It just sounds vaguely familiar."

_Familiar indeed_, he though, _There's only one chemical I know of that is capable of doing such a thing in its raw form:_

_Quantum-X.

* * *

_

_Quantum-X._

Sylux couldn't get that name out of his mind. Quantum-X, the most dangerous substance currently in existence. Quantum-X, the so-called world killer. Quantum-X…

_Why does that cursed substance keep appearing in my life?_

He hadn't told the other two- or rather, didn't have a chance to tell the other two –what the Quantum-X signal that the ship was sending off indicated:

That ship appeared to be made of hardened Quantum-X

_And that explains why it's been in such good condition for so long,_ he thought, _hardened Quantum-X is virtually indestructible; it's one of the few things resistant to the raw form of the chemical._

_Which means that there's only one thing missing from this puzzle: who was piloting that ship?_

There were only two likely possibilities: Either this ship was the final ship in what may have been a fleet for the Espicle System, or…

_There's someone else here. Someone else arrived on this planet. Who they were, and when they arrived, I'll probably never know. But it seems clear that whoever arrived here arrived for the intention of hunting the Gems._

_And since that ship is still there, something must have caused whomever it was that came here to die._

_What, though? What more could this planet possibly hide?_

There were too many questions, and not one answer.

Sylux had a strong suspicion that those answers would reveal themselves to the Hunters in due time.

And that's what worried him the most.

* * *

Trace had, for the umpteenth time it seemed, blundered.

Last time, he had made his move too late; what with being punched by Spire and left unconscious for who knows how long.

This time, he had made his move too early; he had scrambled away from the "Nightside" too early, by the time he lifted off, he remembered that he forgot to read the clue.

_All my life, it seems that I make one small mistake after another. Fate has been against me ever since…_

Trace shook his head. Best not to think about that day.

The Kriken took the _Stealth Snipe _out of the Nightside; wherever the next clue may be, he doubted that whoever lived here placed two clues in the planet's darkness.

_From here, I might as well do what I always do in situations like these: improvise._

Trace's improvisation basically meant taking his ship in a random direction and hoping that he came across something. In this case, he decided to take it east of his current position.

_And based on what the topography analysis shows, that would take me to some of the mountains. This could work._

With that in mind, he swung his ship around, activated its cloaking, and flew to the east

That's when he saw them.

Three figures, walking through the desert, almost casually.

Trace got a look through his viewscreen, and was pleasantly surprised to see Noxus and Spire as two of them.

_For a moment, I thought this was that group with Kanden and Weavel, and I could finish what I started earlier. Now, though, it seems I can exact even greater revenge on Spire for punching me. Then I'll kill Noxus, and—_

_Wait…_

"Magnify display," Trace said, almost choking out the words.

_That third one… it can't be,_ he thought, _I killed him! His ship was destroyed! There's no way he could have escaped!_

The viewscreen zoomed in on the image, and Trace fell back in shock.

_There's no doubt about it… it's _him_!_

The Kriken got back up, and activated his ships' weapons system.

_He disgraced me… it's because of him that I'm where I am today! He may have survived the explosion… but now I'll make him wish he'd died there!_

Trace pointed the crosshairs at the black-armored figure, checked to make sure that they were on full strength, and fired.

A line of red energy shot at the black armored being's head and—

* * *

Weavel didn't know how long he and Kanden had been walking through the wastes.

But when the two found a large stonewall with a gap, down the middle, Weavel knew that they'd found it.

The One-Pathed Cave

* * *

A/N: Yet another cliffhanger. I can't help it.

We have a brief interlude with Weavel and Kanden, who have come to the location of the next clue, blissfully unaware of Sylux's plan.

Similarly, Spire, Noxus, and the mysterious Eclipse continue onward, equally unaware of Trace… right?

What exactly is Sylux's revenge? Why did Samus lose her temper in the Nightside? And what will happen next in Trace's attack?

Tune in next time to find out.


	13. The Fury of a Hunter

A/N: Another chapter, my few remaining readers. After coming out of my hiatus, I am trying to update somewhat more than I used to.

I am disappointed, though, that my poll hasn't gotten any votes. In fairness, not many people probably _saw_ the poll, so if you didn't, well, see if you'd actually care to vote in it!

And on that note, let's continue.

* * *

Samus had just rushed into the _Gunship_'s control room when Adam spoke.

"Lady, there's something I've just found that you must see."

"What now?" she said, not trying to conceal her exasperation, "I've found the next clue, and given what happened on the surface, I don't think I have time for—"

"You must see this, Lady. After I saw it, I began to worry about… just look at it, okay?"

"Fine," Samus said, disgruntled, "what is it, anyway?"

"Data I extracted from a nearby terminal."

Samus wanted to point out that that was impossible; a computer terminal couldn't be on a desolate planet like this, even with its history. But the urgency in Adam's mechanical tone told her to not ask questions.

"Uploading the data now."

The data was finished uploading in a matter of minutes, and as Samus read through it, her worries about the events of what happened on the surface slowly began to fade.

_Month VI, day XX: It's finally happened! Today, I have finished the data I needed in order to complete my ultimate weapons. I've run a simulated test, and it's proven my theory. These weapons are incapable of malfunction._

_But in order to be sure, I need to test them. No, strike that. I'll only need to test one. If one of them works, than the rest surely will._

_Good thing an available target is within easy reach…_

_Month VII, day IX: Test result: success. The weapon went off without a single malfunction. What's more, it accomplished its task easily, sending its target into a ruined state within mere hours._

_Think of what I could accomplish with this weapon! Combine it with the right mode of firing it, and I could lay waste to entire _fleets._ With a weapon like this, I can't be beaten!_

_This is why I have chosen to stay on this planet. I do not fear for my own life, as my weapon has given me the means to deal with any… visitors that come here. I will stay here until the time is right, creating more copies of my weapon. In due time, I will rise and conquer the galaxy with my new weapon: a weapon known as—_

"The Entry ends there," Adam explained.

Samus stared at the screen for a few minutes, taking all of this information in.

That's when it hit her. A horrible realization hit her.

"How long ago was this?" She asked, "And by that, I mean in what year did this occur?"

"The same year the sun went dark."

Not a word was spoken for several moments after.

Samus fired up the _Gunship_, and as it rose into the sky, she activated her comm unit.

"Adam, transmit a signal to the nearest Federation command ship. We have no time to lose."

_If whoever created that weapon is still here,_ she thought, _the subject of the Gems is the least of my problems. It will be the least of _anyone's _problems if it's as powerful as whoever wrote this claims…

* * *

_

Noxus had no idea what happened.

One moment, he, Spire, and Eclipse were walking calmly through the desert. The clue had said: _look in the hives for the next clue_, and Spire decided that this was referring to a series of hive-like caverns on the bottom of a vast mountain to the East. Since nobody could think of a better suggestion, that's where the three had set off for.

Of course, what followed was that little incident earlier with the Ecligun. After that, though, things calmed down.

Up until the moment when the red beam shot out of nowhere, aimed straight for Eclipse.

There was nothing Noxus or Spire could do, and Noxus doubted that he himself would do anything even if he had a chance to.

The red line of energy shot forward, and in that second were it contacted the back of Eclipse's head—

Nothing happened. It was as if the energy didn't even touch him.

Only then did Spire and Noxus take action, firing at where it seemed the energy came from. Despite that, it seemed that their attacker had moved- or was immaterial.

"Let me handle this," Eclipse said, "I know how the invisible type work."

He then aimed his weapon at varying locations, pausing occasionally to lift his head slightly. If Noxus didn't know any better, the Vhozon would say that Eclipse was smelling the air.

"What are you—" He began, but stopped as Eclipse did a 180-degree turn, aimed the Ecligun at a position above him, and fired.

The projectiles struck against something, and then it became visible:

A Kriken ship.

"Trace," Spire muttered, "What a surprise."

"What's more of a surprise is that your Ecligun didn't do that 'black hole' thing that it did with the boulder," Noxus said, "Tell me, does that only work on rocks?"

"No, but that cloaking shield the ship was using acted as a thin layer of defense. Too bad that the ship won't be protected twice."

Eclipse aimed his weapon at the ship, and fired again.

* * *

Trace was so shocked at the black-armored being's survival, he was barely able to avoid the Judicator and Magmaul blasts headed his way. And when the being turned around and fired his strange weapon, Trace had no time to pull his ship out of the way.

_How? How did he—_

The thought was cut short at the sight of the Ecligun projectiles headed his way. Trace knew what would happen if those struck his ship. He'd seen what happened before.

Too late to dodge, he jumped straight through the window of the _Stealth Snipe_. He barely made the clear before the projectiles struck, hit the ground, and could only watch as his trusted ship collapsed upon itself and became a black hole— one that was much larger than the one Noxus and Spire had seen.

* * *

"I'm not quite sure that was supposed to happen," Spire muttered.

At this, Noxus whirled round to face him. "What are you talking about?"

"Me? Nothing," Spire said, almost innocently, "Nothing at all."

Noxus started to say something, but then stopped as Trace stood up.

_Here we go,_ the Vhozon thought, _Trace is probably still ticked at Spire for punching him, so he'll take the offensive, we'll have to fight back, and— what's this?_

Trace was indeed aiming his weapon at someone, but that someone was not Spire, nor was it Noxus.

It was Eclipse.

"So, you think you can just keep kicking me after you brought me down?!" Trace snarled, undisguised hatred in his voice, "Do you think I haven't forgotten?! _DO YOU?!"_

For a moment, Eclipse was taken aback. But he wasn't nearly as surprised as Noxus and Spire were. Trace hated Spire's guts more than any of the other Hunters, and the Kriken wasn't too fond of Noxus either.

So why was it that he was aiming his weapon at Eclipse, the complete stranger?

* * *

"I have a question."

Weavel turned to look at Kanden. It was the first time the Hunter had spoken since the two left the hangar. Weavel had to give the mutant credit for keeping silent all the way to the One-Pathed Cave, though he supposed that he couldn't stay silent forever.

"Is it important? Because if it isn't…" He chose not to finish the sentence, instead he pointed his weapon at Kanden.

"Yes, you could say it's important," Kanden began, "You remember when you asked Sylux how he ended up with his armor and weapon? And how he seemed to get all defensive and only mention something called a Falling?"

"Yes, I remember that," Weavel said carefully, knowing all too well what was about to be asked.

"What was that Falling?"

Weavel stopped walking. He hesitated at first, wondering if what he was about to say should be said.

"I… was never too clear on what happened. When it occurred… I happened to be training on one of our bases. I wasn't around to see it. Only to hear of it."

Kanden also stopped walking. There was something in Weavel's tone that he had never heard before. Something…

"From what I was able to gather, the Falling was… a period of time in the Galactic Federation which many… have chosen to forget. Because of… the events of it.

"The Commander of their army became corrupt… or rather, he became paranoid. He was convinced that every planet that had a small army was… a threat to him. To that end… he massed one of the largest… one of the largest assembled fleets in history and began… a campaign of destruction."

"And let me guess," Kanden cut Weavel off, "Cylosis was a planet on their target list."

"It's… very likely" Weavel said, "What is known, though, is that the Falling was one of the first known appearances of Samus the Hunter."

This, Kanden did not see coming.

"We feared that the Homeworld would… become one of the targets of their campaign of destruction. To defend ourselves, we massed our forces… we massed them all around our planet. By the time we were finished, though… it was over."

"How did it end?" Kanden asked, "Was there an assassination, did the Commander's ship malfunction? What happened?"

"That, I never found out," Weavel said, "And by the time I had reached a high enough rank to find out how the Falling ended… well, I bet you can guess who showed up."

Kanden didn't respond. It was all too obvious who Weavel was talking about.

"Okay, but that doesn't explain why Sylux ended up the way he is," Kanden said, "Surely there must be more."

"Of course there's more. We just haven't—"

"One last question," Kanden interrupted, "This defensive measure sounds far too out of character for the Pirates. Who's idea was it? Ridley, or Kraid's?"

"It was Kraid," Weavel said, irritated, "At the time, Ridley wasn't—" He then stopped himself, and turned around, as if looking at something only he could see.

"I've told you too much. Come on, Kanden. We have a clue to find."

With that, he hurried down the pathway. Kanden shrugged, wondering what Weavel had meant, and then followed his ally.

They were even closer now.

* * *

"It's because of you that I've ended up like this," Trace snarled, "I was one of the most promising Kriken the Empire had ever known, and then… _you_ just _had_ to show up and put an _END_ to that, _DIDN'T YOU?!"_

Spire eyed Trace warily. He'd always known trace to be one of the more levelheaded, if arrogant, Hunters. He supposed that those qualities came from being a sniper.

But this…

_It's strange. Trace claims that Eclipse has done something to him. But unless that was before Eclipse arrived on this planet, it couldn't be true. After all, Eclipse said that he has been here for too long of a time. That's why he looks the way he is._

While Spire had been thinking to himself, Trace had aimed his weapon straight at Eclipse's Visor.

"I know your armor's weak spot, you scum. I know that your visor can't take a point-blank blast from my weapon. You should also know, considering how _I've shot you at that range before!_"

_That can't be right, _Spire thought,_ otherwise he'd be dead, unless… no, that's impossible._

"So tell me, you dirt bag, which would you prefer? Me capturing you and hauling you back to one of our prisons for you to be put to death, or should I just kill you now?"

"You think you could kill me? Try it. Unless, of course, you're too scared to fail _again_!"

Trace let off a yell of pure rage, and at the same time he fired—

Only to discover that Eclipse was now behind him.

"What?!"

"Let me explain," Eclipse said, mockingly, "It took you approximately .07 seconds to activate your weapon. After you activated the weapon, it took precisely .04 seconds for the weapon to respond to your command. It then took another .5 seconds for the weapon to actually fire. Combined, it was more than enough time for me to pivot around you."

He gave a harsh laugh, and then struck Trace across the head with the side of his weapon.

"You still haven't learned a thing."

The Kriken was sent flying, and then found himself on the ground. When he came to his senses, he realized with a dawning horror that all three Hunters had their weapons pointed at him.

"Trace," Eclipse said, in a voice that was part mocking laughter, and apart contempt, "you're finished."

* * *

A/N: What's with the sudden cliffhanger overuse? Even I don't know the answer.

As we begin to understand part of the mystery that is Sylux's past, we also begin to unravel what caused the system's sun to become what it is now.

What exactly was the weapon? What could Eclipse have done to Trace that ruined him completely? And how do the Gems fit into all this?

These answers may very well be revealed in the next chapter.


End file.
